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A SYMBOL OF SAFETY

THE GIGANTIC COMBINATION OF FURNACE AND RAM

In order to learn essential facts about the fire endurance of various types of columns, this unprecedented ap-
paratus was constructed at a cost of many thousands of dollars. It consists of a furnace surmounted by a hydraulic
ram of enormous power. Here is created a heat of the intensity of a conflagration, while, simultaneously,
the ram exerts a downward thrust equal to the weight of many stories. The results of its use have been epoch-
making in the structural industry. (See pp. 27-28, 83-87, 262-263)

A SYMBOL OF SAFETY

AN INTERPRETATIVE STUDY OF A
NOTABLE INSTITUTION ORGAN-
IZED FOR SERVICE— NOT PROFIT

BY
HARRY CHASE BREARLEY

GARDEN CITY NEW YORK

DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
1923

PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF

THE BREARLEY SERVICE ORGANIZATION

Permission is hereby granted to editors to reproduce in recognized
periodicals, such as newspapers, class or trade journals, maga-
zines, etc., any of the text or illustrations appearing in this book.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Humanity and Hazard i

II. The New Note of Precaution 8

III. The Physical Side of Fire Prevention ... 12

IV. The Genesis of Underwriters' Laboratories . . 17
V. The Home of the Laboratories 24

VI. The Significance of the Label 30

VII. Winning the Label 36

VIII. Fighting Fires That Are Not Prevented

1. Detection and Extinguishment 46

2. Alarm Appliances 47

3. Standpipes and Hose Stations 49

4. Sprinkler Equipment 50

5. Fire Hose 53

6. Hydraulic Tests 57

7. Chemical Extinguishers 59

IX. Building to Last, Not to Burn

1. Studying Burnable Conditions 66

2. Roof Coverings 69

3. Windows 73

4. Doors and Shutters 77

5. Columns 83

6. Walls and Floors 88

X. Safeguarding "The Universal Servant"

1. The Universal Servant 93

2. What Is the Relation of the Laboratories to the

Electrical Industry? 94

3. The Practical Viewpoint .98

4. The "Worst Treatment" Test 102

5. Rubber, or What? 104

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

X. Safeguarding "The Universal Servant" — Continued

6. The Electricity of the Skies 107

7. "Economy" vs. Safety 109

8. The Growth of the Electrical Department , . iii

XI. A Department That Outgrew Its Name

I. Correcting "The Defects of Their Qualities" . 119

1. The Handling of Hazardous Liquids .... 122

3. Dealing with Hazardous Gases 128

4. Miscellaneous Devices 131

XII. The Study of Chemical Problems

1. The Department of Chemistry 135

2. Tests of Hose and Wire 137

3. Miscellaneous Activities 139

4. Special Investigations 147

XIII. How Safes Are Made Safe

1. An Emergency Article 151

2. Preliminary Inspection and the Explosion Test. 154

3. The Endurance Test 157

4. The Fire and Impact Test 161

5. The Follow-up Work 165

XIV. Making Burglary More Difficult

1. Matching Wits With Burglars 168

2. Grading the Alarm Systems 174

3. A Typical Local Mercantile Alarm System . . 176

4. Central Station Burglar Alarm Systems . 180

5. Mechanical Resistance 182

6. False Alarms, "Super-Burglars" and "Yeggs" . 184

XV. Protecting Life and Limb

1. Playing a Double Role 188

2. Ladders and Other Things 1 89

3. Safety Appliances 197

XVI. The Safety of Cars and Their Passengers

1. The Start of the Schedule 203

2. " Carding " for Fire Safety 208

3. Autpmobile Appliances 214

Contents

PACK

CHMTER

XVII. Certifying Aircraft and Pilots

I. The Newest Department 221

1. Planes, Parts and Accessories 224

3. Pilots ^^9

XVIII. Underwriters' Laboratories and Human Welfare 234

APPENDIX

I. Details About Labels 249

II. Underwriters' Laboratories and Instruction in

Fire Protection Engineering 249

III. Standard Specifications for Fire Tests and Clas-

sification OF Building Materials and Con-
struction "^S^

IV. Demerits and Periodic Summaries 252

V. Special Forms of Service 253

VI. Typical Labels ^54

VII. Organization ^55

VIII. The Councils ^55

IX. Aeronautical Forms ^57

X. Underwriters' Laboratories' Bibliography

A. The Printed Reports ^5^

B. The Standards ^59

C. Lists of Inspected Appliances and Card Reports

Thereon ^6°

D. Miscellaneous ^"°

E. Index of Selected Articles from "Laboratories'

Data" ^60

XL Tabulated Summary of Column Investigation

Results ^°^

XII. Typical Underwriters' Laboratories* Specifica-
tions ^"4

XIII. A Typical Standard — That for Safes and Insu-
lated Cabinets ^o"

Index ^^5

vii

ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATES

The Mighty Combination of Furnace and Ram . . Frontispiece

FxaNG fAGB

A One-Quart Extinguisher and a "Standard" Fire .... i

The Service Test on Sprinkler Heads 3

At the Helm Since 1893 10

A Momentous Meeting of the Board of Directors .... 11

A Consultation in the President's Office 18

Feeling the Pulse of the Electrical Industry 19

A Busy Morning at the New York Laboratory 28

Building and Doctoring the Equipment 29

The Birth of the Famous Label 34

Extinguisher Operation Test 2S

Inspecting the Inspectors of Underwriters' Laboratories . . 40

Inspecting Armored Cable at the Factory 40

Testing a Sprinkler Lever 41

Testing an Automatic Fire Alarm System 46

Vibration and Pressure Impulse Tests 47

Some "Horrible Examples" 50

Determining the Stress on a Sprinkler Link 51

Operating Tests on Automatic Sprinklers 51

Tests on Automatic Sprinklers 54

Factory Inspection of Cotton Rubber-Lined Fire-Hose • • ■ SS

A Valve Which Gives an Alarm 58

Testing the Strength of a Gate Valve Stem 59

How Strong Is the Extinguisher Shell? 62

Testing a 33-Gallon Chemical Extinguisher 63

A "Close-Up" of a Conflagration 66

Extraction Apparatus for Rubber and Roofing 67

How Accurate Are the Pressure Gauges ? 67

Testing a Metal Window Frame 74

Illustrations

PACING PAGE

Fire-Stream Test on Metal Window Frame 75

Work That Keeps Inspectors Constantly Traveling ... 82

Pressure Up to 200,000 Pounds 83

The Effects of Corrosive Agents go

Oxy-Acetylene Welding Section 91

High-Potential Test of an Electric Water Heater .... 98

Testing Armored Cable 99

Breakdown Test of Rubber-Covered Wire at Factory . . . 102

Measuring the Actual Resistance of Wire Insulation . , . 103

Searching Out the Qualities of Rubber Insulation .... 106

Physical Testing of Rubber 107

Short-Circuit Test of a Large Fuse no

Testing a Small Electric Lighting Plant iii

Performance Test for Enclosed Switches 114

A Test That Means Sixteen Years of Usage 115

Learning What Would Happen in a Fire 122

Studying Gasolene Supply Devices 123

Safety Requirements in Oil-Burning Equipment .... 126

Forty Degrees Below Zero in Chicago 127

Studying the Safety of Acetylene Generators 130

Operating Tests on Acetylene Relief Valves 131

General Analytical Laboratory 138

Preparing Rubber Specimens for Tests 139

When Will a Match Take Fire Through Heat Alone? . . . 142

Analyzing Gases 143

Learning About the "Flash Point" 146

Making Micro-Photographs 147

Preparing an Explosive Vapo-Air Mixture 147

Reading Furnace Temperatures 158

Calibrating the Thermo-Couples 159

Hot Work 162

About to Be Dropped 163

Forestalling the "Yegg" 178

Attacking a Bank Vault Alarm in the New York Office . . 179

"Red Hogan" and "The Omaha Kid" 184

Enabling Bankers to Sleep Peacefully 185

Wired Glass and the Wall Street Bomb 194

Illustrations

FACING PACE

Recording Air Velocities in Spray Painting Booth .... 195

Better Than Losing Fingers 200

Protecting the Eyes of Workmen 20 1

A Corner in the Automobile Engine Laboratory .... 210

A Windshield Visor on the "Shimmy Table" 210

Guarding Against Head-Lamp "Glare" 211

Will the Bumper Protect Your Car? 218

A Locking Cylinder After ioo,oco Operations 219

WTiy Automobiles Are Stolen 219

LINE CUTS

The First Certificate of Airworthiness for a Hydroplane
The Standard Time-Temperature Control Curve
A Report on a Labeled Lightning Rod Installation

A Page of Typical Labels

Certificates for Registered Pilots and Aircraft
The "Yellow-Boy" or Factory Inspection Blank
The "Pink Shp" or Notice of Defects.

227
250

253
254
257
279
282

INTRODUCTION

EKING back over an eventful thirty years to the time when
Underwriters' Laboratories consisted of one table, two chairs,
and a few dollars' worth of simple electrical testing machines,
it can be said that there was no suspicion in the mind of the one en-
gineer who constituted the "force," that the institution would ever
develop to anything like its present scope. Instead of this he merely
was conscious of the task then in hand and was determined to make
the required tests with all possible care, in a spirit of perfect fairness,
and to express no opinion which was not first reviewed by competent
field engineers working in separate territories.

Thus the work started not with a dream but with a purpose, which
usually is the safest basis for a start. Ever since that first day
this purpose has been steadily maintained, which is, I believe, the
principal reason for all subsequent growth. For this reason, too, the
growth of the institution has been solid.

If our work has expanded, it has been because of the expanding
requirements of fields in which we are active. No new departments
have been created and no new equipment has been added until the
need for them has become clearly apparent. We have been too busy
dealing with the practical problems of the present, to spend much
time in speculating about the future. Of late years, however, there
have been increasing indications that the work of Underwriters*
Laboratories is coming to be regarded as having a significance far be-
yond anything that could originally have been believed — a signifi-
cance that undoubtedly applies more to the future than to the past.

At the present time. Underwriters' Laboratories has grown into

xiii

Introduction

remarkably wide and diverse relationships. Its connections run to
many industries and to thousands of plants, as well as to many under-
writing and technical organizations. It has been interesting to note
the fundamental basis of common interest that exists among all these
as regards our investigations and to realize that their interests and
our interests are firmly bound up with the still larger interests of the
general public. In the last analysis, it is the general public which is
served by every activity of the institution.

Underwriters' Laboratories has been developed through the zeal
and abilities of many devoted men. A few of these have passed on,
but most of them, I am glad to say, are still with us. The spirit of
rare harmony and enthusiasm which has prevailed has made it possi-
ble to consider the institution not as an assemblage of men and equip-
ment, but as a distinct organism, which has grown up out of the ideals
of the many who have built their lives into its activities. Its purpose
has never been commercial, and the men who have contributed so
freely of their best have lacked the incentives of purely personal am-
bition. With self-effacing devotion they have performed tasks the
effect of which on public welfare is now seen to be incalculable. Any
one who comes in contact with the real spirit of the institution will,
I think, be impressed with the fact that it exists "for service, not
profit."

The author of this book has been given every opportunity to make
a study of the work of Underwriters' Laboratories, in order that he
might convey an idea of its extent, diversity and significance, in so
far as this is possible in a single volume. This is a story that never
has been told, and I cannot doubt that a general understanding of
our work will have a marked and helpful bearing on the development

of its largest usefulness.

W. H. Merrill,

President, Underjvriters' Laboratories, Inc,

XIV

CHAPTER ONE
Humanity and Hazard

IF HUMANITY had been content to leave things as it
found them, men still would be naked savages, few
in numbers, and exposed to the usual hazards of
nature, such as storms, food shortage, and the attacks of
wild beasts. Old age as we know it would be rare and
violent deaths the rule. This is the situation today as
regards a large part of the animal kingdom; for many
thousands of years it must have been the only condition
of life know^n to our early ancestors.

But, of course, these very earliest types are hardly to be
considered men; they were really a kind of pre-human
animal. Man was 72ot man until he began to meddle^ or, in
other words, to seek to change the conditions that he
found about him.

The chief motive for this activity was self-preservation,
that is to say, the desire to escape from hazard. For ages
its results were crude and bungling — rough shelters to
protect from storms, skin clothing to resist the cold,
primitive weapons for defense and also for use in hunting.
In each case, at the start, these things must have been
more or less accidental discoveries but they worked, after

A Symbol of Safety

a fashion, and there was something in the man brain that
recognized their advantages and sought to improve them.
Thus was established the principle of meddling with
nature, or of experimenting as we like to call it. Out of it
grew science and civilization.

Although in time civilization came to take account of
many other things, hazard has remained always one of its
largest concerns. The great human warfare against
hazard is a remarkable story of changing conditions — of
conditions that changed slowly at first but later with an
ever-increasing speed.

Today we realize that much progress has been made.
Violent deaths are now the exception; we are able to
protect ourselves from storms; wild beasts are virtually
conquered; the defense from cold has reached a point
where men can face the rigors of a polar winter; the race
has learned to produce food in quantity and to store it
against a time of shortage and, as a practical result,
millions now live in some degree of comfort where once
there were only scattered groups all engaged in a day-by-
day struggle for existence. This is one side of the picture.

But the picture has another side that is less reassuring.
We have exchanged the few natural hazards of our early
ancestors for a bewildering number of artificial dangers
that have grown up with the progress of civilization.
Everything today is on a vastly greater scale. Man-
made towns are swept by conflagrations springing from

A ONE-QUART EXTINGUISHER AND A "STANDARD FIRE'

with gasolene soaked cotton waste and. when burn ng 'l^-^cf ^ 'VLf ^Tsee nn 59 63)
guisher. One extinguisher must completely control the hre. ibee pp. r>a <m)

THE SERVICE TEST ON SPRINKLER HEADS

Guarding millions of human Jives, automatic sprinklers receive a thorough scientific investigation at the
Laboratories, as shown in several other photographs and explained in Chapter 8. But, as in the
case oi every other device, there must be a practical service test. Here it is. The engineers call it the
Uistnbution lest, to distinguish it from the Operation Test, which has to do with temperature and
positiveness of operation. (See page 51)

Humanity and Hazard

man-caused fires. Man-made buildings collapse and bury
scores. Man-made ships sink at sea and man-made trains
crash in collision. Man's faithful servants: fire, steam,
electricity and the processes of chemistry, which he has
called forth from the realm of nature, frequently escape
their bounds and work havoc. As the result of thousands
of thousands of years of meddling with nature, man has
thus exchanged the old natural world for a new and
artificial world of tremendous potentialities and un-
numbered perils. Thus new and complex hazards are
by-products of science. If man is now surrounded by
such a diversity of dangers it is needless to state that these
have not been sought but have arisen unsought and some-
times unrecognized in the course of efforts to improve
conditions of human life.

The history of science is one of splendid achievement.
It is inspiring to realize that a two-legged animal with no
natural tools but his ten fingers has been able to equip
himself with powers that surpass in almost every respect
those formerly imputed to gods and wizards. A man in a
powerhouse throws a switch and a dark street, miles
away, flashes instantly into brightness. An aviator
springs into the air and clear across the Atlantic, from
Newfoundland to Ireland, in a single day. The President
delivers an oration in Arlington, Virginia, and every word,
every inflection, is heard with the utmost distinctness by
thousands in New York and in San Francisco. An au-

A Symbol of Safety

dience In comfortable theatre chairs cHmbs the peaks of
the Andes, penetrates the jungles of Borneo or summons
the world's most famous men to appear on the screen for
its inspection.

The astronomer with his spectroscope is able to detect
the composition of stars so distant that their light must
travel for hundreds of years in order to reach us. The
eye of the eagle and of the fly are so far surpassed by the
telescope and the microscope that comparison is absurd.
The engineer turns deserts into farms and orchards or
opens a channel for ocean shipping through a range of
mountains. The synthetic chemist improves on the ma-
terials of nature in more than one important instance.

In agriculture, commerce, industry and daily life the
story is similar. Everyone is better fed, better housed
and better dressed through the results of scientific re-
search; quantity production now places within the reach
of the poor such privileges that could not have been at-
tained by the rich of a generation ago.

The inventive skill that applies the discoveries of
science to human service Is doubtless more active at pres-
ent than In any previous time. At any moment, many
thousands of men are deeply engrossed with models, at
drawing-boards, or In laboratories seeking to perfect their
devices and processes. An Increasing stream of patents
flows from the Patent Oflice. Great as have been the
changes of the past few decades, those of the coming

Humanity and Hazard

generation bid fair to surpass them. The process of
change appears to be steadily increasing its speed.

We have paid wilHng tribute to the magnificent achieve-
ments of science because the following pages must con-
cern themselves more particularly with their attendant
hazards. In so doing, we shall strive to sense something of
the complexity of these hazards and their tremendous cost
in life and property. We shall examine also the work of a
remarkable institution that employs science to limit the
destructiveness of science and to render her service to the
race the subject of less apprehension.

We have already spoken of the man in the powerhouse
with his potent switch. He is merely one of that great
army of electrical operatives who have come into being
because, in 1831, a scientist named Faraday inaugurated
the Age of Electricity by his discoveryof the principle upon
which the dynamo is based. But Faraday probably had
no suspicion that his interesting laboratory experiments
were to make it possible for man to bring so incalculable
a force into his daily service. There is no need to catalog
the variety, extent and value of modern uses of electricity;
they are too much a matter of our every-day life, but
occasionally we feel the paralysis that falls upon a com-
munity when its electrical service is interrupted.

Indispensable as it is, however, the widening use of
electricity has carried widening hazard; each year, its
toll of life and property is formidable. Safeguarding and

A Symbol of Safety

protective methods are being made the subjects of con-
stant study both inside and outside of the industry, as we
shall later have occasion to note. Theoretically, it should
be possible to free the use of electricity from hazard; prac-
tically, such an achievement seems to be far distant.

This is the age of other wonders besides electricity —
gasolene, for example. Humanity called for an illuminant
to replace the fast-disappearing whale-oil of two or three
generations ago. Science found this illuminant in the
newly-discovered petroleum deposits of Pennsylvania
after it had been learned how to free the oil from certain
by-products. One of these was a volatile fluid that seem-
ed to have no special value except for cleaning until in-
ventors realized that its dangerous explosive power could
be used to drive machinery. Soon gasolene came into the
daily use of millions of people. Thereupon, along with
service, it brought a universal hazard of which our fathers
knew nothing; it, also, has exacted a mounting toll of life
and property.

There is a similar story to tell with regard to many other
of the splendid, dangerous gifts of science. No sooner
have we seized upon some new facility than we are likely
to learn that nature may exact a serious price for its use.

One evidence of this is found in fire losses which, in the
United States, increased more than one thousand per cent.
between 1865 and 1922, while the population increased but
two hundred per cent. A study of fire causes shows that a

Humanity and Hazard

large part of that loss can be traced to comparatively new
devices and processes. The marked increase in loss of
life and in bodily injury through accident is another result
of material progress. Such things are inevitable but they
are not necessary, which is merely a paradoxical way of
stating that our swiftly-developing civilization thinks more
of using than of safeguarding; they are inevitable only so
long as this state of mind holds control.

CHAPTER TWO

The New Note of Precaution

THE eager search for new powers and new tools still
is dominant but, rather recently, there has begun
to be sounded a new note of precaution. Slowly,
it is coming to be realized that material progress, like
other things, is subject to the laws of economics and must
not be purchased at too high a price. Conservation there-
fore is engaging an increasing amount of attention. It is
already finding expression in many ways.

Among the most inspiring stories of the last few years
are those that deal with great movements for conservation
such as those for checking epidemics, utilizing waste,
conserving the forests, limiting floods, preventing acci-
dents and, in particular, that for combating the enormous
losses from fire.

Fire prevention on any important scale is practically of
the present century. For ages fire was regarded as a
thing to be fought, not prevented, and attention was
concentrated upon the training and equipping of fire
departments, which, in America, with their constant
opportunities for service, became famous for speed, skill
and daring. Figuratively speaking, the American fire

The New Note of Precaution

alarm never is silent. Fifteen hundred fires each day
means an average of more than one for every minute, night
and day, 1,6^ days in the year. When losses reach a
yearly total of nearly half a billion dollars in absolute
destruction, as has been the case, and when to this is
added the distressing loss of thousands of human lives, it
can be seen that even the efforts of the best-trained and
best-equipped fire-fighters are not sufficient; it becomes
imperative that an effort be made to limit the number of
fires — to fight them before they break out.

Such considerations led at last to the inception of a
movement that is among the most remarkable of the
present generation — the great campaign of fire prevention.
Originally promoted chiefly by the fire insurance interests,
it soon grew into a nation-wide cooperation of individuals
and organizations working by many methods, but to a
common end. This is not the place to trace the history of
this movement but a few of its achievements may be
told.

Today in a number of states, all public schools are
required by law to teach the rudiments of fire prevention
to their pupils; Fire Prevention Day (October 9), pro-
claimed by the President of the United States and by the
governors of the various states, is observed with appropri-
ate exercises of public instruction in thousands of com-
munities; building codes are being made increasingly
rigorous; standards for electrical and other forms of in-

A Symbol oj Safety

stallation have been worked out in great detail and widely
promulgated; manufacturers are finding a growing market
for safety appliances and the popular mind is becoming
responsive as never before to the thought of protection
from fire hazard. This is indicated by the large amount
of attention now being devoted to the subject in news-
papers and magazines and in meetings of business and
civic organizations.

Many do not yet realize that fire prevention was officially
enlisted in the service of the government during the World
War and that it played an important role in many de-
partments. All government properties engaged in war
work were inspected and safeguarded by fire prevention
engineers, and all new construction made large use of
inspected materials and supplies. This was true in the
case of camps, warehouses, navy yards, shipyards, termi-
nals, docks and all other centres of war activity, where
interruption by fire might have interfered with military
efficiency. It was true also in the case of thousands of
privately-owned plants engaged upon government con-
tracts. In all these cases hazards were noted and sugges-
tions made for their correction.

Such efforts met with general success. When one
considers the high pressure of war production and trans-
portation, with congested space, hastily-improvised facili-
ties, inexperienced operatives, and the large handling of
inflammables and explosives, the small proportion of fires

The New Note of Precaution

is noteworthy. Among the privately-owned plants, how-
ever, the recommendations of the fire-prevention engineers
occasionally were neglected, sometimes with disastrous
results. In one case, for example, the proprietors of an
ammunition plant disregarded the safety instructions
and the resulting fire and explosion destroyed millions of
dollars' worth of munitions. Such exceptions merely
prove the rule.

People who read the statistics of American fire loss often
ask, "after all, does fire prevention prevent?" The an-
swer of the war is unmistakable: fire prevention does pre-
vent— when it is given a chance.

We are justified in regarding this whole question as the
conflict of two contending forces.

Lined up on one hand are the vast combustibility of our
millions of frame buildings and our square miles of wooden
shingles; the national carelessness of an optimistic, pro-
gressive people, impatient of detail; the rapid growth of
congested city life with its attendant fire hazard; the
universal employment of electricity, gasolene and other
modern utilities; the enormous increase in the use of
cigarettes; and sundry other elements, including the evil
torch of incendiarism.

Against these are arrayed the various factors of educa-
tion, legislation and enforcement already indicated, and,
recently summoned into combat, the mighty and resource-
ful hand of science.

CHAPTER THREE

The Physical Side of Fire Prevention

FROM the foregoing summary it will be seen that
fire prevention is a two-fold problem involving
both psychological and physical factors. The
first of these deals with human ignorance and carelessness
and lies generally outside the province of this book.
The second concerns the environment of people, the
buildings in which they live and work, the tools they use
and the forces they employ. It also is capable of sub-
division into two parts, viz.: Fire Causes, and Burnable
Conditions.

A fire is born, then it tries to grow. There is a world of
almost romantic interest hidden under each of these
simple statements. Fire is such a living thing; it has such
a universal fascination; it is so necessary to our daily
lives, yet holds such possibilities of terror and destruc-
tion. Fire is inextricably a part of all human history.
From the earliest ages, all tribes of man seem to have
possessed the art of making fire, while no other kind of
animal ever has acquired it. Some writers even classify
man simply as "the fire-making animal".
What is Fire? How is it caused?

The Physical Side of Fire Prevention

Fundamentally, fire is the heat-light effect of chemical
action. This means that when chemical action produces
temperature that is sufficiently high to render luminous
some of the solids or gases affected, we see what we call
fire. Fire, then, involves chemical change, which is to say,
the destruction of something, a liberation or recombina-
tion of its elements and a high degree of heat in the process.

Decay is a kind of slow fire; it involves chemical action
and produces heat, as is shown by the warmth of rotting
compost, but this heat is not sufficient to produce light.
The oxygen that we draw into our lungs enters into chemi-
cal combination with certain elements in our body and
gives us our bodily warmth. Both these occurrences differ
from actual fire chiefly in degree. Thus Fire is not only
our familiar companion but is, in a sense, closely related
to our own life processes.

One of the most interesting features of fire is the multi-
plicity of ways in which it is caused. The presence of
infectious disease means that actual germs have been
preserved and transmitted; with disease there is an
absolute continuity from the first case to the most
recent one. Not so with fire. One moment there is no
fire and the next moment it springs into being. A pile
of oily rags lies quietly in a corner. There is neither spark
nor match. Presently the rags begin to smoke; then
suddenly burst into flames. In another book the writer
has had occasion to describe the latency of fire as follows:

A Symbol of Safety

"Fire possibilities exist on every hand; they are found
in the most unthought-of places. It is natural to associ-
ate fire hazard with a box of matches but who would look
for it in a glass of water? Yet potassium or sodium thrown
into water bursts at once into flames, while a few drops of
water on gray, rocklike calcium carbide produce acetylene
gas. Many fires have been caused by water. Fire is
continually originating in the most unexpected ways —
by the spark from an accidental hammer blow in a room
containing gasolene fumes, even by the well-meant action
of a hospital nurse in oiling the body of a live-steam victim
and covering him with blankets — in this case, spontaneous
combustion cost the life of the patient.

"Invention is a constant hazard; new devices and proc-
esses are continually introducing elements of the greatest
danger. The versatile but highly inflammable celluloid
is a case in point. There is also a lacquer used in shoe
manufacturing and known to the trade as 'dope'; it is
prepared from celluloid scrap and its use in a wooden shed
was the starting point of the thirteen-million-dollar
Salem conflagration in 1914. The giant new industry
of moving pictures was not generally supposed to be
hazardous until disastrous fires and serious loss of life
resulted from it. There is a well-recognized fire hazard in
incubators, in curling-irons, in rain-coat manufacture, in
various polishing, cleaning and sweeping compounds, and
in countless other products and processes.

The Physical Side of Fire Prevention

" Wi th the daily use of fire for purposes of cooking, ligh t-
ing, heating, commerce, industry, art, science or pleasure
by almost every individual in every community; with
sparks borne by the winds from smoke-stacks and chim-
neys; with barns and houses burned by lightning; with the
omnipresent commercial electricity always ready to
transform itself into fire through some defect in trans-
mission, and with fire hazard lurking unseen in the in-
cessant stream of devices emanating from the busy
brains of our inventors, there can be small wonder that
appalling destruction marks the pathway of man's most
useful servant. "

Thus, intentionally or unintentionally, fires are con-
stantly being caused. Next they try to grow. The tiniest
flame is ambitious to become a conflagration and will
do so if it have the chance. It is a common saying among
fire-fighters that t\\Q first five minutes at a fire are more im-
portant than the next five hours. Fanned by a strong
wind fires sometimes spread with such speed that people
have been run down by flames in the open. The spread of
fire is a question of combustible conditions, and these
will be discussed in the following pages, notably in the
chapter on building materials. However, one fact must
not be overlooked in considering either cause or spread —
at every phase of its existence^ Fire is subject to natural laws.
There is nothing truly mysterious about it; it is a proper
subject for scientific study. It is perfectly possible to learn

A Symbol of Safety

all the ways in which fire may be caused and so to learn
how not to cause it; it also is practicable to determine the
factors governing the spread of fire and to use this knowl-
edge in preventing the spread. Thus fire prevention and
fire resistance on their physical side are strictly matters of
applied science.

It is for this reason that Underwriters' Laboratories
originally came into existence although its work has now
grown, naturally and logically, to include the fields of
accident and burglary prevention and automobile and
aeronautic safety as well.

CHAPTER FOUR

The Genesis of Underwriters' Laboratories

I IKE many other important influences of American
life, Underwriters' Laboratories was, in a way, an
— # outgrowthof the World's Fair of 1893. This great
exposition, which gave a pronounced impetus to American
architecture, which opened the eyes of the public to the
coming dominance of electricity, which exerted a profound
influence on manufacture, transportation, mechanics and
art, and which, perhaps, first taught the American people
to think in international terms, also furnished an oppor-
tunity for the germ of a protective idea to take root and
begin to grow.

In 1893, William H. Merrill came to Chicago to serve as
an electrician of the Chicago Underwriters' Association, his
special task being that of solving some problems in con-
nection with automatic fire-alarm service in Chicago and
of inspecting the electrical installations at the World's
Fair, which were altogether unprecedented in scope and
importance. He brought with him the laboratory idea
that was later to germinate. This he had suggested to
the Boston Board of Fire Underwriters before coming
to Chicago, but they had not felt warranted in authorizing

A Symbol of Safety

its establishment. In Chicago, however, certain tests
became necessary and a small room was taken on the
third floor of Fire Insurance Patrol Station No. i on Mon-
roe Street. Here, abov^e the horses of the salvage corps,
were installed a bench, a table, some electrical measuring
instruments and a few chairs, the whole "plant" repre-
senting an investment of about $350. The staff con-
sisted of Mr. Merrill, one helper and a clerk.

Thus began an activity which in thirty years has grown
to embrace the services of two hundred engineers and
other inside employes, 250 outside inspectors, a plant
containing fifty-five thousand square feet of floor space
in Chicago,* and branch laboratories in New York and
San Francisco, a Canadian organization under a Dominion
charter, offices in 141 cities and a connection in London.

The original work, as already stated, was purely local
but the principle of growth was in the germ and it soon was
extended to embrace the territory of the Western Union —
an insurance organization, not the historic telegraph
company. It then assumed the name of the Underwriters*
Electrical Bureau, and operated under the auspices of
both the Western Union and the Chicago Board. It was
not long before the quality of the work began to attract
attention outside of its original territory. This, together
with the reports issued on electrical fires and the inaugura-
tion of model report blanks, so favorably impressed the

*Work is about to begin on a 40,000 square foot addition to the Chicago plant.

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The Genesis of Underwriters' Laboratories

National Board of Fire Underwriters that that body decid-
ed to make a small allowance to the Electrical Bureau
which thereupon became recognized as the Electrical
Bureau of the National Board and operated on a some-
what increased scale.

Then came a new impulse from an outside source that
started development along a collateral line, as has been
the case from time to time ever since.

The story has often been told of the engineer who, in
1892, while experimenting with an electrical furnace in
a North Carolina town, failed to secure the results he
sought but found in the furnace when it cooled a dark
gray, brittle substance, then strange but now well known as
calcium carbide. The engineer threw the apparently use-
less stuff into a stream and was astonished to see the water
bubble vigorously from the generation of gas. Thus was
discovered the valuable gas, acetylene, widely used today
for illumination, welding and other purposes. Its obvious
utility quickly led to the manufacture of crude generators
which in turn showed a disconcerting tendency to explode
and cause fires. Thereupon, insurance companies were
forced to give them attention, and Mr. W. C. Robinson,
then sprinkler inspector for the Chicago Underwriters'
Association, was detailed to study this new hazard also
under the auspices of the Union Committee. As this work
required testing facilities, it seemed reasonable that the
two lines of investigation be brought together and that the

A Symbol of Safety

committee's work be extended to include the whole field
of fire protection and fire prevention engineering.

Presently it developed that similar work on acetylene
was being carried on in Boston and in Atlanta, and con-
flicting reports began to appear. Consolidation was again
** indicated," as the surgeons say, and the result was the
formation of the Committee of Consulting Engineers of
the National Board of Fire Underwriters and the con-
centration in Chicago of the testing work. This com-
mittee specialized in the hazards of heating and lighting
as electrical work had been nationalized by the formation
of the Underwriters' National Electric Association.

Now had come the time for much larger quarters and a
two-story brick building, at 67 East Twenty-first Street,
was selected. This building, which had served as a boys*
school and gymnasium, and seemed spacious beyond all
dreams of future need, was outgrown within a decade.

The next definite advance was in connection with the
National Fire Protection Association, which body formed
a Committee on Devices and Materials to work in the
field of fire-protection appliances. There ensued a
gradual development of personnel, facilities and range of
operation. At no time was there any effort to grow but
rather a concentration on the quality of the service to be
rendered. The result was inevitable for the work won
rapid recognition in electricity, acetylene, gasolene and
other hazards and began also to be felt in the field of

The Genesis of Underwriters' Laboratories

protective appliances, hand fire extinguishers, fire doors
and fire windows.

One of the contributing factors to this growth was the
lack of uniformity in the opinions of others who were
supposed to be expert in some of these fields. When the
judgments of authorities differed it obviously was neces-
sary that there be some court of last resort such as could
be found only in an adequate laboratory, where tests could
be made without previous bias and their results could be
certified. Thus the work progressed quietly and steadily.
From time to time, as required, new apparatus was secured
and additional engineers, specialists in various branches
of the testing, were drawn into the staff.

By November, 1901, the institution had outgrown the
committee form of organization, and was incorporated as
"Underwriters' Laboratories, Inc." under the laws of
Illinois, the state granting a charter "to establish and
maintain laboratories for the testing of appliances and to
enter into contracts with the owners and manufacturers
of such appliances respecting the recommendation thereof
to insurance organizations."

The National Board of Fire Underwriters had become so
deeply convinced of the value to the insurance business of
the work of Underwriters' Laboratories that, in 1903, it
made a general appropriation for the purpose of building
up the institution along broader lines. It now became
possible to secure a site on East Ohio Street and to erect

A Symbol of Safety

a really fire-proof building as a home for the rapidly ex-
panding activities and incidentally as a demonstration
to architects and contractors of the possibilities of safety
construction. This building was enlarged by successive
additions until it extended over the entire l6G ft. of
property frontage and, in 1923, reached a total floor space
of 55,000 sq. ft. Later, some idea will be given of the
unique aggregation of testing facilities thus created.

In 1906, there occurred another important extension of
the Laboratories' work; this was the inauguration of a
label service for the purpose of certifying the results of
this work as it affected individual products. It involved
a natural corollary of inspections at factories. This work,
hereafter to be described, grew out of the need for aiding
manufacturers to secure continued recognition of the
safety standards once established through the test of their
products. Naturally, this involved continued contacts
and was received with great favor by the various indus-
tries affected. Therefore there grew up a staff of in-
spectors, operating from branch offices in sixty-eight
different cities and visiting thousands of factories.

The most important of these branch offices is that
in New York which passed under the charge of Vice-
President Dana Pierce in 191 2. Since then it has grown
into an important testing station and the inspections
made between Trenton, New Jersey, and Bridgeport, Con-
necticut, are all directed from this office.

The Genesis of Underwriters' Laboratories

This account touches but a few of the high spots
in thirty years that naturally have been crowded with
detail. However, it is difficult to draw the members of
the Laboratories' staff into reminiscence. Their thoughts
are little concerned with the past in comparison with the
interests of the swiftly-expanding present and the in-
definitely greater requirements of the future.

CHAPTER FIVE

The Home of the Laboratories

THE building at 207 East Ohio Street does not
"look the part," at least to the layman. Fancy
the disappointment of one whose imagination has
been stirred by such expressions as "within its walls
science is fighting the battle of civilization with fire,"
who has been told that materials are here given the fiery
test of "artificial conflagration," who has thought of the
vast uproar and confusion caused by human hazard in its
many forms of fire, casualty and crime, and who has
therefore visioned the place where these hazards are
grappled with as something flaming and thunderous,
something between a steel works and a cataclysm, when
he finds — what? A long, low, "academic-looking" build-
ing of brown brick and terra cotta with no suggestion of a
thrill in its many windows. It might be a school, it
might be a library — almost anything but the scene of in-
tensive scientific encounter that he knows it to be.

He goes inside and receives an impression of the quiet,
busy intentness of many people at tasks whose meaning
at first is not clear to him. He sees that some are engaged
with reports arid correspondence, while others are making

The Home of the Laboratories

use of a great variety of apparatus to which they are giv-
ing absorbed attention, with frequent jottings on record
blanks. Presently, however, this silent, orderly activity
begins to inspire in him a new sense of values, and under
the guidance of some one acquainted with the institution,
he commences to understand.

There are long rows of offices opening from central hall-
ways, there are benches where chemists stand before
racks of jars and bottles and are busy with test tubes or
bunsen burners. There are myriad electric devices and
sundry stretching and straining machines. There is the
long vista of the hydraulic laboratory, with its complica-
tion of pipes, valves and tanks. There is a succession of
furnaces of various sizes and shapes, some of them with
glowing mica peepholes, which speak of the intense fires
that rage within.

Many other things there are, and, most impressive of all,
perhaps, is the mighty column-testing apparatus whose
installation has marked an epoch in structural engineer-
ing. Little noise is to be heard; there is no rushing about,
nor, on the other hand, is there any sign of loitering, for
each person is seen to be giving his entire attention steadily
to the task in hand, although the nature of this task may
not at first be clear to the visitor.

A very early impression is sure to be that the entire
building is more than merely fire resistive. It actually
\s fire-proof y which is a term that rarely can be used with

A Symbol of Safety

accuracy. Indeed, It is doubtful whether any other im-
portant building in America is so nearly loo per cent, in
safety from fire hazard. An architect or a builder could
spend considerable time profitably in studying the solution
of this problem as here portrayed. He would see the way
in which wood has been eliminated without loss of beauty,
for some portions, particularly the spacious tile-lined
office of the President, were designed to serve as object
lessons in the possibility of combining attractiveness with
safety. He would see how all vertical and horizontal
openings have been safeguarded, so that even a "theoret-
ical" fire could not go far; and then he would see what
might appear like superfluous fussiness, namely, a full
equipment of automatic sprinklers in the ceilings of the
rooms. It is hardly to be expected that an occasion will
ever arise that will call these sprinklers into action, but
here again the purpose is largely that of an object lesson.
In other words. Underwriters' Laboratories must practice
what it preaches and adopt every provision for safety.

Mr. Kohlsaat, the famous journalist, in telling of his
experience one night in a London hotel during a war-time
air raid, says that he asked a chambermaid the next
day why he had not been aroused and called to the base-
ment for safety, as the hotel employes had been, and she
answered artlessly: "Oh, but you are not under the Em-
ployer's Liability Act. " The 170 members of the Labora-
tories' Chicago staff have the satisfaction of knowing that

The Home of the Laboratories

their protection is more substantial even than that afford-
ed by a "liability act".

Throughout the building, at numerous points, will be
found many devices and materials undergoing test. Some
of these tests have a touch of the spectacular, as, for
example, that in which a mass of flames is hurled, under
forced draft, against the surface of a sample of roofing;
that of dropping a red-hot safe from the height of a third
story upon a pile of bricks; or that of turning the full
force of a fire stream upon the surface of a fire door that
has been taken incandescent from the testing furnace.

On the other hand, tne great majority of investigations
are perfectly matter-of-fact in appearance and mean little
to the layman without an explanation. Some of them
will be discussed more fully in succeeding chapters. But
there is one piece of apparatus already mentioned that
is sure to capture the attention of any visitor, even though
he may not see it in operation. This is the gigantic com-
bination of furnace and hydraulic ram that is used in de-
termining the qualities of columns.

Imagine a room seven feet square and twelve feet high,
built up of heavy masonry and surmounted by a huge
hydraulic ram that rears itself forty-five feet above — a
ram of such enormous power that it might have pulled
the building from its foundations, had not special founda-
tions been constructed to support it. Within this room,
on many occasions, there has been created a heat equal in

A Symbol of Safety

Intensity to the most terrific conflagration, and, simultane-
ously, the ram has exerted a downward thrust equal to the
weight of many stories. Some of the blackened and dis-
torted columns that have been submitted to this ordeal
are to be seen In the courtyard. Their appearance re-
moves any doubt as to the thoroughness of the test.

The Important work that takes place In the New York
office of Underwriters' Laboratories must also be included
In a general Impression. This rapidly growing branch
occupies two floors of Its own building at No. 109 Leonard
Street and now conducts something more than one-half
of the total work done by the Laboratories in the examina-
tion and test of electrical and signal devices. This is
largely due to the fact that a large proportion of the man-
ufacturers of electrical goods are located In the East.

The New York office has an especially designed and very
well-equipped testing house for short-circuit tests on
fuses adjoining a sub-station of the New York Central
Railroad at KIngsbrldge in upper New York. At this
sub-station facilities are provided for fuse tests by means of
a very large storage battery with complete equipment of
protective devices, instruments and the like, with which
these important tests can be conducted rapidly and safely.

The laboratory equipment of the New York office
includes many types of apparatus for electrical tests and
also for certain of the tests of the Casualty, Automobile
and Burglary Protection Departments.

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BUILDING AND DOCTORING THE LABORATORIES' EQUIPMENT

In testing thousands of different devices in ways not previously tried, it often is necessary for the
Laboratories to invent its own testing apparatus, and to build it in its own well-equipped Plant Depart-
ment. The machine shop is also called upon to maintain in perfect condition the thousands of pieces
of electrical, physical, chemical and hydraulic testing apparatus at 207 East Ohio Street

The Home of the Laboratories

Few visitors wish to make a quick passage through the
various departments of the Chicago testing station, since
the themes for interesting discussion so abound on every
hand, and one readily comes to realize why and how this
institution has become so central in the entire campaign
for human safety. The lasting human impression is
likely to be a composite memory of a smooth-faced, specta-
cled, youngish-looking man — a typical testing engineer —
with a frown of concentration between his eyebrows,
intent upon an indicator in the absorbing task of "finding
out about something."

CHAPTER S IX

The Significance of the Label

WHEN it is stated that the annual output of the
Underwriters' Laboratories' labels increased
from fifty million for the year 191 5, to fifty
million per month in 1922, it is obvious that the label
plays an important part in the affairs of the Institution
and is of vast significance to the public. What then is
the label?

The label is a certificate of character awarded to an
inanimate object. It is an epitome of the technical skill,
costly equipment, wide experience and thoroughgoing
methods of investigation that have been concentrated
upon that object in the process of searching out its every
point of weakness; it is, therefore, the one best means of
bringing to the buyer and user the opinion he desires
as to the merit of appliances.

Some of the chapters which follow will give a slight idea
of the gruelling tests that often'precede the award of the la-
bel, and explain the feeling of satisfaction with which
thousands of manufacturers view its attainment. Like
everything else connected with the institution, however,
the label is entirely and intensely practical; its purpose is

The Significance of the Label

as far as possible removed from sentiment, for it is con-
crete evidence to officials, inspectors, contractors, mer-
chants and the general public that the labeled product has
been awarded a recognized standing in its relation to fire
and accident hazards.

Now the label is one of several forms of recognition of
a device made or service rendered by a Laboratories'
client, but it is the most important, and the best known.
In several industries it has come about that it is the first
thing looked for by prospective purchasers. One reason
is that it does not only mean that samples of the goods have
been tested 07ice. but that year after year these goods must
continue to maintain their quality, or they will forfeit their
rights to the label.

"Are these goods approved?" asked several of the
fifty-odd electrical dealers attending a Brooklyn auction
early in 1922, as a case full of receptacles was put up.
"Sure," was the glib reply, whereupon the bidding grew
spirited and the lot brought ten dollars a hundred.
Later the buyer discovered that the receptacles were not
included in the Laboratories' Electrical List, and he be-
came indignant. "You should have heard the storm of
complaint, " said a witness. " Most of those present were
the cheapest kind of dealers, but even they knew the
value of Laboratories' listing; the dumfounded auctioneer
took back the box, put it up again, and the highest he
could get was four dollars a hundred. " The next item was

A Symbol of Safety

a lot of plug-type fuses. Someone asked if they were
"standard," and again the ignorant auctioneer took a
chance on saying "yes," whereupon the same thing hap-
pened, the public forcing the auctioneer to call off the sale.

This episode shows strikingly the value of Laboratories'
listing to the jobber or dealer. But how about the
manufacturer? Does he welcome the operation of the
Label Service in his plant ? A single instance will indicate.

The manufacturer in question has plants throughout
the country, in twelve of which the Label Service was
operated. He told the vice-president of the Laboratories
that he had an excellent product and wanted to keep it so.
These plants had received from him the most particular
specifications as to design, construction, and inspections.
He felt that his requirements were even stricter than those
of the Laboratories. Under these conditions the visits of
the Laboratories' inspectors seemed to him superfluous.

However, such visits were a condition of the use of the
label and the inspectors as usual took nothing for granted.
To the manufacturer's amazement, they found that his
admirable instructions were disregarded, that in certain
plants the test methods and apparatus did not conform
to the established standards laid down by him, that
not one of his own inspectors was rejecting defective
products, and so on. This revelation brought about a
shake-up, and it took three years for every needed change
to be effected; but today the manufacturer belongs to the

The Significance of the Label

growing class who use the Label Service for their own benefit^
for the sake of their reputation, as a check upon their
own inspectors, as a means of maintaining their poHcy
covering their product, as a tonic to their production de-
partments, and as a good influence on esprit de corps in
their own forces — quite regardless of the sales value of
Laboratories' listing.

However, the significance of the label goes far beyond
its value to manufacturers. Underwriters' Laboratories
was established by the insurance companies for purposes
of pure self-interest; it is primarily a servant of under-
writing, and the way in which it also has become a servant
of industry and of the public is an interesting story.

Here, then, in the background is the great institution of
insurance which affects the welfare of every community
through its sale of protection to millions of firms and
individuals.

It is hard to comprehend the vastness of insurance oper-
ations. In the fire insurance field alone the stock com-
panies carry a total of about eighty billion dollars of cover-
age, and to this must be added the very large aggregate
of casualty and automobile insurance. Even the newest
subject of Laboratories' investigations, that of aeronautic
safety, is already represented by a respectable amount of
insurance on airplanes and their cargoes.

First and last, therefore, one may visualize the entire
burnable property of the United States throughout its

Z2>

A Symbol of Safety

three million square miles of extent and try to realize that
all of this unimaginable wealth is, in a sense, tied together
by a network of insurance contracts that provide financial
security to the holders of more than thirty million separate
policies. This financial security is based on payment in
case of fire or accident, but its value does not wait upon
disaster, for it also forms one of the chief foundations
for the credit system upon which business is dependent.
Thus, in a real sense, the interests of all business in-
stitutions and all homes — in other words, of the entire
population, are dependent on the operations of the in-
surance companies. But the companies are not mines of
wealth, they do not originate the payments which they
make — they transmit them, because their ability to
pay is due to the premiums collected by them from the
policy holders. The rates of these premiums, on which
the whole efficiency of insurance depends, are worked out
in accordance with carefully prepared schedules represent-
ing the many elements of hazard. Now, it is easy to see
that if premium rates were not based upon a real under-
standing of such elements of hazard, they would be noth-
ing more than guesses, and guessing belongs to gambling,
not to underwriting. If the guesses were too high, the
public would be overcharged for its security; if they were
too low, the security would disappear. In either case the
public would be the loser and the business of underwriting
would be short-lived.

THE BIRTH OF THE FAMOUS LABEL

More than 500.000,(XJO labels each year are required by the manufacturers of labeled products, and the
picture shows the use of a machine for stamping, numbering and cuttmg off brass labels such as are
commonly seen on fire extinguishers, fire doors and other products. The automatic features were
designed by Underwriters' Laboratories, which now has under construction an improved machine oi
its own design that will largely increase the output

EXTINGUISHER OPERATION TEST

Two engineers of the Department of Gases and Oils are asking certain pertinent questions of a 2?-Rallon
extinguisher. How far will it throw a stream? For how long? At what pressure under various temper-
atures? What is its reaction to litmus paper? If the range prove to be from 30 to 35 feet; the duration,
from 60 to 65 seconds; the maximum pressure, from 85 to 100 pounds per square inch; and the stream prove
not acid to litmus, this test is considered satisfactory.

The Significance of the Label

Thus it can be seen that the insurance companies and
the millions of policy holders have an identical interest in
obtaining accurate knowledge of the elements of hazard that
must be considered in fixing rates. With contracts rep-
resenting billions of dollars at stake there is no room for
prejudice and no room for superficial judgment. This
fact led to the establishment of Underwriters* Labora-
tories, an institution devoted to the obtaining of accurate
knowledge. The companies may be said to be backing
the thoroughness, impartiality and technical skill of the
Laboratories with billions of dollars of policy contracts,
while the policy holders, in turn, are backing the com-
panies with their premiums.

So much for a purely business consideration, but the
policy holders have an additional stake in the efficiency
of this work in the fact that their lives, as well as their
property, are affected.

It is well within the truth to say that thousands of lives
are saved each year as a direct result of the busy imper-
sonal labors of the engineers and inspectors on the staff
of Underwriters' Laboratories. This explains why the
label that epitomizes these labors and makes their findings
known to the public has become a subject of nation-wide
importance.

2>S

CHAPTER SEVEN
Winning the Label

ONE day a boy came into the New York branch of
Underwriters' Laboratories, staggering under the
weight of a "fire door." He lowered it to the
floor, caught his breath, and then told the astonished
engineers that he had been sent to get the door labeled
and would they please hurry up about it, because the
manufacturer had "a customer who was waiting." Of
course, the manufacturer was due for a disappointment;
the Laboratories' processes cannot go forward at such a
dizzy speed. However, the request was only an extreme
illustration of a frequent misunderstanding. Many peo-
ple do not appreciate that safety investigations involve
delays that cannot be avoided. It is a serious matter to
say that a certain product or process is free from hazard-
ous quahties, or that it will furnish protection if protection
be Its purpose. Guessing is quick and easy but where
human lives are at stake, or where insurance companies
are backing the use of processes and products with their
policy contracts, guess-work must be eliminated.

The first essential, therefore, is thoroughness. Listing

Winning the Label

is never awarded to a product so long as there remains a
fragment of doubt in the minds of the engineers as to its
performance under all the conditions which it may meet
in actual use. These conditions may be normal and safe
in ninety-nine per cent, of the cases but how about the
remaining one per cent.^ Do they hold possibilities of
hazard? If so, the product must be given the test of such
conditions; hence, at various points in the following pages,
reference will be found to "worst treatment" tests. The
Underwriters' label is not easily won, but when won, //
means something. In saying this, however, a qualification
must be emphasized: labels do not necessarily imply the
highest attainable qualities; rather they certify the attain-
ment of definite and adequate standards. There is noth-
ing to prevent any manufacturer from producing better
goods than are required by the Laboratories' rating —
many of them do — but if they fall below the requirements
they forfeit their right to the label.

The second essential of all procedure is complete im-
partiality. Any manufacturer whose product complies
with the Laboratories' Standards may secure listing, and
the keenest rivals meet upon absolutely common ground.
To insure this, it is necessary that every step of the testing,
inspection and label service for each product be worked
out in full detail and rigidly applied to all makes of that
product. Consequently, the body of standards and rules
has grown to large proportions, yet no one can read them

A Symbol of Safety

carefully without realizing that they are both practical
and just; they epitomize the technical knowledge and the
wide experience of the engineering staff.

This entire activity is focused on a single purpose —
that of determining degrees of hazard in order to point the way
to the reduction of hazard. This is true of all materials
and devices that represent inherent hazard, and it is no
less true of protective devices whose failure to work at
some critical time may result in disaster. Listing means
that the degree of hazard, or the degree of prevention of
or resistance to hazard has been determined. The label,
when awarded, is a certificate of rating in these respects.

How, then, does the Laboratories operate?

Let us suppose that a manufacturer produces a new
line bearing upon some form of hazard — fire hose, it may
be, or an electrical device, or a safe, or a roofing material,
or an automobile lock, or some other of the thousands of
different devices and products that come within the range
of the Laboratories' operation. Presently, a prospective
customer inquires as to " the label". " I carry insurance,**
he says, **but I can't afford to have my place burn down.
You say your device is free from hazard, but I can take
no chances. If it has been tested and listed by Under-
writers' Laboratories I can feel sure."

Thereupon the manufacturer realizes that the Labora-
tories' rating has a sales value, and he starts out to secure
it. From this time he passes through a variety of steps,

.38

Winning the Label

some preceding the tests themselves, some related to the
tests and still others which are supplementary.

The Laboratories* engineers are practical men who have
seen many devices fall under test and know what to look
for; therefore, they are able to make expert criticisms
which often are of the utmost value to the manufacturer
In making the necessary Improvements. In hundreds
of cases successful devices and products have owed no
small amount of their success to the preliminary criticism
given by the Laboratories' engineers.

Let us assume, however, that the product in question has
passed through these preliminary conferences and now
has been submitted for regular test. From this point
there begins a series of gruelling experiences — real man-
size tests — calculated to "try the soul" of any device.
Said the Italian janitor of the New York office as he saw
the conclusion of a six-thousand operation test on a batch
of switches: "So you do alia you can to busta machine,
and if you no can busta you pass it?" Or, as one of the
engineers laconically phrased it: "We give it hell." In
other words, the device is submitted to tests that will
reproduce every conceivable service condition — both
probable conditions and those that may be improbable,
but still are possible — for the product Is destined to go
out into a world of careless people and unforeseen emer-
gencies and its qualities must be learned In advance.

In some of the succeeding chapters, glimpses will be

A Symbol of Safety

given of these strenuous processes. They are summed
up in voluminous reports that bristle with technical terms
and prove that there has been nothing superficial, nothing
haphazard in arriving at conclusions. Ultimately, it
probably will have been shown that the product under
discussion is entitled to a classification rating: A, B, C, or,
perhaps, D, as the case may be, and each class is so care-
fully defined* that the mere use of a letter carries a definite
meaning throughout the trade.

At this point the "submittor" of the device — to use
the Laboratories' term — is frequently in a state of excite-
ment and sometimes forgets that the engineers are abso-
lutely impersonal when it comes to their work. One
over-anxious submittor, having at last seen his device
pass the prescribed tests, after modifications suggested
by four engineers had been made, presented each of them
with a thousand-dollar watch as a token of his apprecia-
tion. The dumfounded engineers turned in the four-
thousand-dollar indiscretion to the president of the
Laboratories, who promptly sent for the manufacturer.
After a stormy hour in the private office, the manufacturer
left, carrying his four watches, and never thereafter at-
tempted to repeat his offense.

One important part of the whole process is the ''report
to Council." In the appendix will be given some idea
of the various councils, including recognized authorities
of wide experience, who review the findings of the Labora-

INSPECTING THE INSPECTORS OF UNDERWRITERS" LABORATORIES
I„ .hi, piclure .he ^'•^ri'^l'^tTi^.^^t^l^^^'i^r^SicSSn'i.'S'i 'blln^SS "h^lieS".

INSPECTING ARMORED CABLE AT A FACTORY

The Laboratories- inspector is here shown ^'^^^^^^ ^il^^r.V'^^n^i^C ^^^^^^^^^^

which is widely used in wiring residences , ^l^^'i, 'f ?,".%°' ^^ '^V^clins the rubber-covered copper

SPRINKLER LEVER

^r^^ltv?^^® °i sprinklers are sent to Underwriters' Laboratories for investigation. In this case the
?^=?,rfivLo .f- 'ever which IS a part of a spnrikler of special design is being tried in a 10,000-pound Olsen
Tto ;1 f .1 K "^- Ukimately, it will be forced to give way, its deformation being indicated on the dial, and
Its strength being shown by the sliding weight now being adjusted by the operator's right hand. (See p 50)

Winning the Label

tories* engineers before classifications and labels are finally
awarded. These Councils include the Fire, the Electrical,
the Casualty, the Automobile and the Burglary Protection
Council, and vary in size from eight in the case of the last
named to forty-eight in that of Electricity. These au-
thorities must be satisfied as to the accuracy of the con-
clusions reached, and, if so satisfied, the Laboratories'
stage of the investigation may be said to have been passed.

It will be appreciated that certain samples of the prod-
uct under investigation have proved their worthiness as
the result of these tests. However, since these particular
samples will not be ofl'^ered for sale, it now becomes es-
sential to make sure that the actual commercial product
will be kept up to sample. Therefore, the work passes
into the follow-up service stage; it becomes a factory in-
spection matter. All over the United States are the plants
which produce materials and devices that have been listed,
and to these plants there come at various intervals some
one or more of the 250 Laboratories' inspectors, operating
from a far-flung system of branch offices.

There are three forms of follow-up work, namely,
"reexamination service," "inspection service," and "label
service"; certification labels are used only in connection
with the last named.

The oldest and simplest is the reexamination service,
in which the Laboratories makes examinations and tests
of the appliances one or more times yearly. Products

A Symbol of Safety

such as acetylene generators, electric welding machines,
fire pumps, etc., come under it.

The inspection service is similar but much more thor-
ough, and its cost is billed monthly to the manufacturers
served. Sprinkler equipment and other devices on which
it is impracticable to affix labels come under this form. In
most ways it is similar to the label service.

For label service, after Council action, an engineer from
the interested technical department visits the factory to
make sure that it is prepared to produce the device in
commercial form; then the Label Service Department
provides an inspector in the locality and makes up a
special "procedure" handbook to guide the inspector in
making his examinations and tests at the factory; in other
words, the inspector cannot act arbitrarily, for every action
is prescribed in this handbook, a copy of which is furnished
to the manufacturer.

The manufacturer may be urgent for labels, but these
cannot be given prematurely. When the first lot of goods
has been manufactured, a careful examination of it is
made, every item being checked against the procedure
handbook in conference with the official of the manufac-
turing company who is designated to come in contact with
the inspectors. Then, and not till then, the first lot of the
labels is delivered.

Thereafter factory inspections are made regularly, pref-
erably when lots are ready for shipment, but sometimes

Winning the Label

by surprise. No changes even for improvement may be
made in the device, nor may it be manufactured at another
factory, without first consulting the Laboratories.

This, in brief, is the story of the winning of the label.
* * *

The preceding chapters have glanced at the growth of
human hazard from the few natural dangers encountered
by primitive man to the innumerable perils of our com-
plicated modern life. They have shown that man always
has been compelled to give thought to protection from
these perils, and that, in so doing, he has gradually evolved
what may be called standards of safety. In particular it
has been noted that the increase of artificial perils since
science became a servant of humanity, has led at length to
the creation of a scientific institution for the purpose of
making a study of these perils and of the protective de-
vices with which man's ingenuity has met them.

Finally, it has been shown how the work of this institu-
tion has led to the certification of quality in the case of
thousands of products related to fire or some other form
of hazard, thus making it possible for individuals and com-
munities to attain a larger degree of security for life and
property.

It now remains to show something of the way in which
this remarkable activity has both broadened and intensi-
fied. It has broadened as more and more forms of hazard
have come within the scope of its inquiries; it has intensi-

A Symbol of Safety

fied, because the practical nature of its work has led to a
constant increase in the volume of demand for its tests.
Thus, it has grown into departments, each with its trained
specialists who are kept busy in their respective fields.

Work of this character is constantly reacting to the
flow of new ideas, issuing from the busy minds of thou-
sands of inventors and taking their forms in the products
submitted by thousands of manufacturers. In so doing,
the engineers constantly are learning new facts through
studying new problems, and from time to time they are
able to deduce additional laws. As a by-product to the
investigation of specific articles, there is a growing accu-
mulation of practical knowledge which, in turn, flows back
into the industries afi^ected and makes possible a constant
improvement of their products.

The comparatively new profession of fire-prevention
engineering is now being placed upon a solid foundation
of knowledge, much of which is the outcome of work in
the Laboratories' departments. Even more than this, it
is already showing a tendency to sub-divide and intensify,
as has been the case in the Laboratories itself. Thus,
there are fire-prevention engineers and specialists in the
electrical field, in the structural field and in the field of
hydraulics, to mention only three. The day is rapidly
approaching when specific courses of this nature will be
given in many institutes of technology.

The following chapters will show how department after

Winning the Label

department has been born to meet some recognized need,
has trained its own specialists, has acquired or devised
its own apparatus, and has begun to affect the conditions
of great industries. In order to obtain this view, it will
be necessary to consider in succession the work of the
various departments of Underwriters' Laboratories.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Fighting Fires that Are Not Prevented

I. Detection and Extinguishment

IN SPITE of disheartening loss statistics, there can
be no doubt that fire prevention does prevent in
thousands of cases each day. On the other hand,
the conditions of modern hfe and the vast inertia of human
ignorance and carelessness involve hazards so widespread
and continuous that the contest sometimes seems to be a
losing one. Fire Prevention prevents fires, but the time
when it can really prevent Fire, in its destructive sense,
is still far distant. Therefore, civilization must long con-
tinue to devote much time and money to fighting the fires
that are not prevented. This subject is a large factor in
the work of Underwriters' Laboratories.

Fire fighting consists of two elements — detection and
extinguishment, and both of them have led to a multi-
plicity of devices and appliances, some of them automatic
and some associated with human operation. For con-
venience we may take up detection for first consideration.
Fire always announces itself in course of time by means
of smoke, smell, sound, the sight of flames or the sensation

TESTINX; AN AUTOMATIC FIRE ALARM SYSTEM
These two New York Ofiice engineers are trying out an automatic electrical system^ which not only gives an
alarm iiT^he event of lire [n fhe buflding in wh.ch it is installed but announces the floor or room where fire is
Sineoutbrmean' of coded taps on the fire gongs. Such systems require painstaking study to determine
SveLTs of^ratL ^e elec'^rical test here shown is ^ supplementary one this system ha^.ng originaaiy
been tested by installing it on the ceiling of a room in which actual fires vvere lighted while several engineers

observed its operation

VIBRATION AND PRESSURE IMPULSE TESTS

pfff"r?«"n/ whlh">°^^^''' sprinklers and pressure gauges may be subjected to a variety of conditions the

effects of which it is important to learn in advance. In the picture, a hydraulic engineer is making tit!

by means of a motor-operated vibration and pressure impulse machine

Fighting Fires that Are Not Prevented

of heat, but this may be at a time too late to prevent
destruction. The art of fire detection is that it be dis-
covered in its earliest stage when loss may still be pre-
vented. To this end, there has been a wide development
of fire-detection systems and here again the classification
is two-fold; viz.: those based on automatic signaling by
the fire itself, through its effect on some mechanism; and
those which are accessory to the work of a watchman or
patrol, such as time-recording clocks, pull-boxes, etc.
Both classes may be good or bad in design, well or poorly
made, in order or out of order at the time of need, as with
most things mechanical, but both of them are charged
with so serious a responsibility that possible failure must
be guarded against in advance of the emergencies when
such failure would be disastrous. It is the work of the
Laboratories to determine, and thus to aid in correcting,
all liability to failure.

2. Alarm Appliances

In fighting fire, it first must be discovered. Therefore,
automatic alarms in great variety have been devised on
the principle of making fire tell on itself. This it never
hesitates to do when the right conditions are provided.

Fire can thus be made a much better fire watchman
than are the mere humans employed for that purpose.
Indeed, human watchmen so frequently are inefficient
that there has been much discussion in insurance circles

A Symbol of Safety

of what is familiarly known as "the watchman evil."
For example, a watchman smelled smoke one Saturday
night, but failed to find where it came from and told the
Sunday watchman that it was due to a banked boiler.
The smoldering fire was permitted to burn all Saturday
night and during Sunday and Sunday night as well. On
Monday morning the attention of a passerby was at-
tracted by smoke pouring from the windows. This
passerby ignored the assurances of the watchman and
called the fire department, which succeeded in extinguish-
ing a fire that was rapidly becoming serious.

In another case a night watchman was disturbed in his
slumbers by the persistent ringing of a bell attached to the
automatic fire-alarm system. There was a fire, and it was
trying to tell on itself, but the watchman was not able to
draw the inference; on the contrary, he climbed on a chair
and stopped the ringing by forcing the blade of his pen-
knife alongside the clapper of the bell. Then he went
quietly back to sleep. Two or three hours later he was
awakened by the dense smoke with which the room was
filled and went down to the street for fresh air. There,
wandering about, he found another watchman supposed
to be on duty in an adjoining building, and this man
offered to go back with him and seek an explanation of
the strange phenomenon. Putting his hands on the wall,
he found that the bricks were hot. ''Perhaps," said he,
"there is a fire!" On this possibility they turned in an

Fighting Fires that Are Not Prevented

alarm, but some ^50,000 worth of damage was done before
the firemen could subdue the flames.

These are merely a few cases out of many indicating the
fallibility of depending on human vigilance and the desir-
ability that fire be made to summon outside assistance.
For such reasons, inventive ingenuity is always active in
this field, and fire-alarm systems are under constant
investigation by Underwriters' Laboratories. One type
in wide use is operated by a valve attached to the auto-
matic sprinkler system. As soon as a sprinkler head is
opened by the fire the motion of the water causes an
alarm to sound.

On the other hand, much of the work on alarm systems
and devices is done by the Electrical Department, and
the electrical circuits on some systems are remarkably
complicated as, for example, in the case of those known
as "non-interfering" by means of which several alarms
may be sent in simultaneously from different points with-
out interference at the central station.

J. Standpipes and Hose Stations

Iron standpipes and hose connections are to be found in
the hallways of most tall buildings. Their necessity is
too obvious for comment, for imagine the awkwardness of
having to carry hose up many flights of steps in fighting
fires on upper floors. Whether these systems be of the
"wet" type, in which water pressure is constantly main-

A Symbol of Safety

tained, or of the "dry" type, into which water must be
turned before fire streams are available, it is evident that
the pipe itself must be good, that the hose stations at-
tached to it on the various floors must be convenient
and easy to operate and that these hose stations must be
made as nearly "fool proof" as possible.

An ordinary investigator might think it sufficient merely
to look things over and, perhaps, to give the system a
trial operation in place. Not so with the Laboratories'
engineers. They make micro-photographs of the iron or
steel to learn of its structure; they test its strength and
elasticity by means of powerful tension and compression
machines; they carefully examine the inner surface be-
cause roughness means friction, and friction under some
circumstances may cause the stream to fall short of the
flames it is desired to extinguish. So, too, with the hose
stations. Their various requirements must be investigat-
ed with great care in view of the fact that they are likely
to be used by inexperienced people laboring under excite-
ment— a point never to be overlooked in making tests.

4. Sprinkler Equipment

"The manufacturer who today builds without provision
for automatic sprinkler protection almost wilfully en-
dangers not only his plant but the life of his employes," so
says the Secretary of the National Fire Protection Associ-
ation. Automatic sprinkler equipment is undoubtedly the

SOME "HORRIBLE EXAMPLES"
However good a sprinkler head may oriKinally have been, it cannot operate if seriously corrocied or if
heavily loaded with dust, lint or other foreign material. This cabinet contains heads taken from ac-
tual service. One was gummed by flying varnish, another was clogged by a wasp s nest and still others
were seriously corroded or otherwise impeded. They form an object lesson in the importance ol in-
spection and maintenance

r
I

/ •

\ "^^ *

%<vr>"

■L MM ISt

' ■ ► . ^ jji^.^-

DKTEUMINING THE STRESS ON A SPRINKLER LINK

The operator has his eye fixed on a very sensitive Ames dial, while his left hand slowly increases the
weight on the beam of the weighinc; machine, and a pencil in his right hand records the exact point of
release. Note the number of sprinkler heads visible in this photograph. The Laboratories uses
15() of each ty[>e in order to determine uniformity of oiieration and other characteristics

OPERATING TESTS ON AUTOMATIC SPRINKLERS

Sprinklers must be responsive to heat, but all the conditions of their response must be known in ad-
vance of the emergency which will call it into play. The illustration shows a gas-heated, water-
jacketed, cylindrical oven, where the temperature is raised according to a predetermined standard
temperature-rise curve. The temperature at which the link fuses and the behavior of the operatmg

mechanism are carefully noted

Fighting Fires that Are Not Prevented

greatest single device for reducing fire loss, and In thou-
sands of buildings may be seen the familiar little sprinkler
heads, quietly awaiting the time when heat from a fire may
melt a small piece of fusible metal and allow water to
gush forth in a drenching shower. It is estimated that
20,000,000 people are now under the daily protection of
sprinklers and that during the past twenty-seven years
this form of protection has successfully controlled 95.7 per
cent, of 26,888 recorded fires.

So highly is the sprinkler esteemed by insurance com-
panies that they make large reductions in premium rates
where it is employed, provided that it be of approved type.
This qualification is important, for there are "sprinklers
and sprinklers." Inventors have been especially busy in
this field and hundreds of devices have been submitted
to Underwriters' Laboratories for test; and tests they have
received, tests so searching in regard to the many qualities
required that the Laboratories' standard for sprinklers
alone is a book of about thirty thousand words. These
tests occur almost continuously and the visitor to the
Laboratories is apt to find them in some stage of process.
He may see the hydrostatic-pressure test, during which
a steadily increasing pressure searches out the weak points
in the sprinkler, or the "water-hammer" test, whereby
four thousand vigorous hydraulic blows are delivered,
followed by investigation for leakage; or, he may see
some one of the "installation," "accuracy of release" or

A Symbol of Safety

"excessive stress" tests. He may see sprinklers tested
after having been subjected to chlorine or nitric acid fumes
or coated with calcimine, as might easily be the case in
actual use. He may see them struck with hammers or
thrown on cement floors, under the specifications for
"rough usage" tests. He may see them tested for
distribution, in order to learn the exact area of floor or
ceiling that they will cover with spray, or mechanically
tested for strength, or he may see uniformity tests made
upon 150 or more samples, and other efforts made to
determine all of the points of possible weakness or inef-
ficiency, which might spell life or death in a fire emergency.
In view of this, it will hardly surprise him to learn that
out of the hundreds of types submitted, only some fifteen
heads have the final listing.

The qualities of the sprinklers, when once determined
and rated, are made the subject of factory inspections, as
with most other lines, but the most remarkable feature of
the Laboratories' workon sprinklers consists in taking heads
for test from buildings throughout the country, where they
have been in service for months or years, as the case may
be. This service involves from four to five thousand samples
each year and is performed without cost to the owners of
the buildings. Reports are sent to the insured, to the
interested inspection department and to the sprinkler
companies concerned, however, it must be added that the
name and address of the assured are deleted from the copies

Fighting Fires that Are Not Prevented

sent to the sprinkler companies. As a result of such tests
the Laboratories makes definite recommendations to the
owners of the buildings as to whether the heads should be
retained or taken out.

5. Fire Hose

In 191 1, President Merrill, in speaking before the Fire
Underwriters of the Pacific, said:

We find [fire hose] manufacturers making a monstrous mystery
of their wares, analysts proving them rotten or unfit for use and
gossips busy with details of scandal about the reasons why inferior
hose is delivered, when superior is supposed to be paid for from the
public treasuries.

There is perhaps no single item of municipal supplies
whose purchase has been associated with more irregulari-
ties than this vital factor in public safety. It is a matter
of common gossip that a well-known politician in one of
our great cities was conceded the fire-hose graft as his own
personal reward for political services, and similar condi-
tions were to be met in many other cities. As a result, it
is not astonishing that, times without number, length
after length of defective fire hose purchased with the good
money of the taxpayers burst as soon as water had been
turned into it. Under such circumstances, fires that
might readily have been controlled have grown to large
proportions and a ghastly list of human victims is charge-
able to defective hose.

A Symbol of Safety

For example, on January lo, 1908, fire broke out in the
Parker Building on Fourth Avenue, New York City, and
the firemen were hampered by the fact that forty-two
different lengths of fire hose burstunder the water pressure.
This undoubtedly was one of the reasons why the fire
caused heavy damage before it was brought under control;
still worse, it was one of the reasons why three firemen lost
their lives and fourteen others received serious injuries.

Sometimes similar conditions prevail in the equipment
of private plants. A characteristic instance of this kind
occurred several years ago in a Pennsylvania cement-
manufacturing plant, where a fire broke out in a bunker,
presumably from a locomotive spark. The fire was
quickly discovered and the plant's fire-squad coupled up
the plant's expensive new hose and turned on the water,
whereupon the hose burst in five or six places and the
fire merely gained headway. The disgusted squad hurried
to uncouple the hose and threw in another length, which
immediately burst like its predecessor. Ultimately, the
loss amounted to ^7,000 which was almost entirely due to
the failure of the hose.

In this case the plant management had "specified and
paid for" hose inspected by Underwriters' Laboratories,
but had neglected to "look for the label," and the dishonest
dealer had substituted a worthless product.

Fortunately, such conditions are becoming less frequent
today, a fact that is largely due to the widespread in-

TESTS ON AUTOMATIC SPRINKLERS

It is said that automatic sprinklers are guarding the lives of 20.000,000 people, therefore, the tests as lo
their efficiency are of supreme importance. In the picture, the engineer at the left is making a leakage
test, while the one at the right has plunged another sprinkler into a hot liquid maintained at a certain
temperature in order to observe, by means of a stop watch, how many seconds will elapse before it operates

FACTORY INSPECTION OF COTTON RUBBER-LINED FIRE HOSE

In this work, every single 50- fr. length of hose produced by the manufacturer for labeling is subjected to
^'%?^S" f pressure under the eye of the Laboratories' inspector— 300 lbs. per sq. in. for single-jacketed and
400 lbs. for double- or multiple-jacketed. The Laboratories' inspector is shown observing the performance
of the length nearest to him on the test table. He watches for elongation, twist, warping, rise from level of
table, security of couplings, etc.

Fighting Fires that Are Not Prevented

sistence on "Underwriters' fire hose, " or labeled hose com-
plying with the standards laid down by Underwriters'
Laboratories.

The "monstrous mystery" referred to by Mr. Merrill
has been dispelled by the clearness of the Laboratories'
requirements for municipal fire hose. For instance, the first
requirement is that the fifty-foot sections be stenciled in
indelible letters and figures at least one inch high, with
the trade name, the month and year ot manufacture, and
the words "tested to 400 pounds"; the Laboratories' label
must also be firmly attached near an end. It serves more
than one purpose, as a crooked jobber found out to his
deserved sorrow when he tried to pass off as new a lot
of old hose on which the stenciled dates had been altered.
The prospective customer became suspicious and notified
the Laboratories' local office, where he was informed that
the labels had been affixed to a War Department supply
some years earlier.

Fire hose is such an important product that it comes
under the " 100 per cent, inspection " system of the Labora-
tories; that is to say, every section of hose sold with the
Laboratories' label attached to it has been inspected and
tested individually at the factories by the Laboratories'
inspectors. Each length of hose, before being labeled,
must withstand a pressure of 400 pounds per square inch,
without leaking, sweating, breaking cover threads, short-
ening, rising from the level of the test table or warping

A Symbol of Safety

more than twenty inches, nor may it twist excessively
under the strain, and, if it does twist, it must do so in a
direction to tighten the coupHng. One full length out
of every ten must be tested ivhile kinked and it is required
that its cover threads shall resist a pressure up to 300
pounds per square inch. From every lot of sixty sec-
tions, one is selected and a three-foot sample is subjected
to hydraulic pressure that is steadily increased until the
hose is forced to burst, a point which may not occur
below 600 pounds to the square inch. Finally, the manu-
facturer must guarantee to the municipality that the
hose is made according to the best principles of hose
construction, that it is free from defects of material and
workmanship and that if, at any time within three
years, the rubber parts of any section burst or show
cracks or harden, because of defects, such hose shall
be replaced with new hose at a cost equal to such per
cent, of the original cost as the time elapsed is of three
years.

Preceding such factory inspection, however, and from
time to time thereafter, thoroughgoing tests of test samples
are made at the Laboratories itself, and these are
in the hands of the Chemistry Department, since they
concern themselves chiefly with the character of the rubber
and cotton employed. This is because the rapid de-
terioration to which some hose is subject is largely due to
inferior quality in its materials.

Fighting Fires that Are Not Prevented

The tests concern themselves with minute but highly
essential details, as laid down in the rigid specifications.
For example, it is provided that the rubber lining of a two-
and-one-half inch double-jacketed cotton rubber-lined
hose must consist of not less than three calendered
sheets with a thickness between .058 and .072 in. and
"practically free from corrugations ". Similar definiteness
applies to all other details, including even the fact that the
hose coupling must contain not less than "82 per cent, of
copper". Thus no room is left for a shred of "mystery"
in the manufacture of fire hose.

These are the reasons why the average fireman is now
able to enter a burning building with confidence that the
hose upon which his life may depend will not fail him in
service.

6. Hydraulic Tests

It is fortunate for humanity that water, the most
reliable of all fire extinguishers, should be so plentiful in
a world of hazard. The water supply is the most im-
portant part of the fire-fighting system of every commun-
ity, and its pipes, valves and fittings come in for extensive
tests at Underwriters' Laboratories. This is why the
institution contains an elaborate hydraulic laboratory.

Back of the work of firemen, sprinklers and standpipes
there must be the means by which they are supplied with
water; these involve pumps, hydrants, valves and, in

A Symbol of Safety

some cases, complicated supervisory systems, all of which
keep the Laboratories* hydraulic engineers busy through-
out the year. Offhand, one would think that any valve
could be examined and tested in a few hours, but alarm
valves require each about four weeks of steady work by the
engineers, and dry-pipe valves likewise present many
problems for consideration before the Laboratories can
render an opinion. The ideal alarm valve must cause a
gong to ring or a signal to flash, or both, but it must ignore
false alarms. This problem, by the way, has never fully
been solved, though in some cases Laboratories* engineers
have, at manufacturers' requests, devoted months to
development work on this device. As to dry-pipe valves,
they are used in premises that may become cold enough
for the water to freeze in the fire-fighting system. This
invention is quite as remarkable in its way as is the alarm
valve. It must hold back the water until a sprinkler
opens, when it must immediately open in turn, so that
as few precious seconds as possible will be lost while the
water rushes to the point of fire. Only five of these valves
have received favorable opinion and have been listed by
the Laboratories.

The importance of such listing is shown by such in-
stances as the following:

"When fire broke out in a sash and door factory, the
two i2-in. alarm bells in the outside of the building and
the 6-in. bell in the stableman's dwelling did not operate.

A VALN'E WHICH GIVES AN ALARM

Fire not only should cause the flow of water from the sprinkler, but it also should send in its own
alarm. An alarm for this purpose is here shown under test in the interesting hydraulic laboratory,
and the minimum flow of water required to make it operate is being de'ermmed. The device under
test is the small rectangular box in the right-hand margin of the picture

TESTING THE STRENGTH OF A GATE VALVE STEM

Here is another view in the hydraulic laboratory. The gate valve is seen on the floor, with one flange

securely bolted to the steel platform, while pressure is being exerted on its bronze stem by means ot a

lever, the extent of the strain meanwhile being measured by a sprmg balance

Fighting Fires that Are Not Prevented

No less than forty-seven sprinklers were found to have
opened, so that the dry-pipe valve must have been too
slow in operating. "

Ask any hydraulic engineer specializing in pumps
whether he has ever heard of Underwriters' Laboratories
and he will probably answer: "Why, the approved fire
pumps are all commonly known as Underwriters* pumps. '*
That tells the story. As a matter of fact, some manufac-
turers use that characterization in their catalogs and put
big brass plates on their labeled pumps, bearing the word
UNDERWRITERS in large letters. There are hun-
dreds of water pumps on the market, but only a few
"Underwriters' pumps," the principal points of difference
being that the latter embody almost every known im-
provement making for durability, reliability and instant
operation. It is regrettable that many owners of tall
buildings do not realize the necessity for providing fire
pumps in addition to the supply tanks, and that some
owners do not even have the latter.

7. Chemical Extinguishers

Ten cents' worth of baking soda in a five-cent tube —
such was the so-called fire extinguisher sold for three dollars
to the owners of the Iroquois Theater in Chicago in 1904.
A mechanic testified that in its incipiency the terrible fire,
which cost over six hundred lives, could have been put
out with a small stream of water, but the "extinguish-

A Symbol of Safety

er" was used as per directions until it was too late even
for hose streams.

Labeled fire extinguishers effectively put out a fire in a
New York subway car in July, 1922, at a point far
below street level. Passengers painfully climbed seventy-
foot ladders, ambulances and fire engines rushed to
a scene of confusion, and at first there were sensational
reports that fumes arising from the use of the extin-
guishers had poisoned the lungs of the passengers.
Later, experts from the Transit Commission and the
U. S. Bureau of Mines reported that the "smoke and
fumes were principally from burning insulation, paint and
other organic matter" and that there was no evidence
that poisonous gas was generated through the applica-
tion of the extinguishers used.

If it were not for the establishment of rigid standards
certified through labels, frauds would doubtless be per-
petrated upon an ignorant and unthinking public, which
buys make-believe extinguishers and imagines defects in
good ones.

The importance of this whole subject of what are com-
monly called ** first-aid" fire extinguishers can hardly be
over-estimated since they are used in fighting scores,
possibly hundreds, of small fires every day in the year.
The number of cases in which efficient extinguishers,
promptly applied, have prevented incipient blazes
from becoming serious, is beyond computation; the sense

Fighting Fires that Are Not Prevented

of security that most people feel in their presence is
undoubtedly due to the high average of their performance.
This, in turn, has been influenced by the fact that in this
class of product, more perhaps than any other, the
general public has learned to "look for the label" of
Underwriters' Laboratories. More than six million of
these small hand-operated extinguishers have so far
been labeled and the present rate of labeling (1923) is
about three hundred thousand a year.

Thus, in factories, stores, public buildings and hun-
dreds of thousands of homes the eye has become accus-
tomed to the familiar two-and-a-half-gallon copper extin-
guisher or the smaller one-quart device, both of which
hang on the walls in silent readiness for immediate
action. To these must be added the well-known fire-pail
which renders important service in every community.

The words "immediate action" explain most of the
tests that are made on first-aid fire extinguishers by the
Department of Gases and Oils which has them in charge.
Such extinguishers do not protect by their presence but
by their use. This use is generally in the hands of ama-
teurs, in a state of excitement, and is made during the
precious "first five minutes." There is no time to tinker,
adjust or study; the whole device must be swift and
efficient when the emergency occurs and it is the business
of the engineers to find out whether it is likely to be.

For example, some fluids are subject to freezing unless

A Symbol of Safety

kept in sufficiently warm places and, naturally, a device
cannot be used when frozen. In spite of warnings and
directions very many extinguishers are allowed to freeze
by careless owners and the question as to the degree of
permanent impairment resulting from such freezing is
important to determine. The freezing may weaken
the device in a way that will not become apparent until
there is an attempt to use it in a sudden fire emergency,
when it may give way with serious results.

On the other hand, if the extinguisher be torn apart by
the freezing, the solutions when melted will run out and
advertise the fact, thus giving the owner ample warning
that the ruined device should be replaced. Even in such
a case the general temptation is to have the extinguisher
repaired, and where this is done, without proper knowl-
edge of the problems involved, the general results give a
false sense of security. A sample of such an experience
was recently brought to the attention of the Labora-
tories in a report to the effect that a labeled extinguisher
had exploded, as a result of which the device was secured
and carefully examined. This examination disclosed the
fact that the vertical seam had evidently been torn apart
by freezing, and the repair had been made by springing
the edges together and simply soldering them without
any attempt to secure further strength than that given
by the solder. When this device was used, the soldered
joint, of course, failed and threw the extinguisher parts

HOW STRONG IS THE EXTINGUISHER SHELL?

In the operation of a soda acid chemical extinguisher, a considerable gas pressure is developed within the
shell in order to force out the stream. It is important to make sure that the shell will not burst, and it
therefore is subjected to a pressure of 385 pounds per square inch in the test here shown. Then its dis-
tortion is carefully measured, after which the pressure is gradually increased until the shell is forced to
break, the exact bursting pressure being recorded

TESTING A 33-GALLON CHEMICAL EXTINGUISHER

This important type of "first aid" apparatus is frequently equal to the task of subduing a fire. In the

picture, it is under test as to the pressure developed in the tank and the nature and carrying power of its

stream. Students from the Armour Institute of Technology are seen as interested spectators

Fighting Fires that Are Not Prevented

with considerable violence, but fortunately without in-
jury to the operator.

There have been many efforts to find some practicable
way to lower the freezing point of extinguisher contents,
but many tests have failed to show a depressant that is
free from objection. For example, a solution of common
table salt, while it will lower the freezing point, is sure
to produce corrosion and resultant weakness.

As an example of this, a number of years ago an ex-
tinguisher exploded and an examination of the fragments
indicated that the metal at the water level had been eaten
away to almost paper thinness, except, of course, at the
double thickness of the longitudinal joint. When this
extinguisher was operated the pressure generated was
sufficient to tear away the dome of the extinguisher.

This, of course, is but one of the many points concern-
ing the two-and-a-half-gallon extinguisher which call for
careful investigation in painstaking tests.

The one-quart tetrachloride type works on a different
principle and calls for tests of a different character. Its
fluid has the important virtue of being a non-conductor
of electricity, hence is often used in this connection.

In their development the engineers of the Gases and
Oils Department made use of many different types of
fires to demonstrate the limitations and value of this type
of device. Electrical fires, consisting of arcs produced
under high voltages and heavy current, were attacked

63 '

A Symbol of Safety

with devices of this kind with results which indicated the
value of the non-conductive liquid and the smothering
effect of the vapors formed. Tests were made at the
stations of some of the larger electric lighting concerns in
Chicago and New York, and the effectiveness of this type
of extinguisher for electrical fires was thoroughly demon-
strated. Fires in inflammable liquids also were attacked
in order to indicate what a single device of this type would
do; such tests included liquids in tubs and liquids spread
on the floor and absorbed by various kinds of fab-
rics such as burlap, cotton batting and cotton waste.
In all of these tests the engineers of Underwriters' Labora-
tories were constantly exposed to the products of com-
bustion and the fumes given off from the extinguisher,
but, although the engineers were many times forced
to flee from the test room by the smoke and fumes,
at no time was any engineer injured or materially in-
capacitated.

"The work of the Laboratories," to quote one of the
staff, "may be considered as similar to that of a clearing
house for many varieties of fire extinguishers, which if
described would provide an interesting volume. It
might be expected that invention has practically ex-
hausted itself along these lines, but such is certainly not
the case. Hardly a day passes by that some thought
or idea in methods in connection with extinguishing fires
is not presented. New chemicals are presented, and more

Fighting Fires that Are Not Prevented

frequently well-known chemicals in new combinations
are submitted for consideration. "

A great deal of research and improvement work has
been done by Underwriters' Laboratories on all kinds of
chemical extinguishers from the one-quart size up to the
automobile chemical fire-engine.

The preceding pages indicate but a few of the main
features of Underwriters' Laboratories' work with regard
to fire-fighting equipment. In most American cities
fire-fighting is in the hands of professional fire departments
which employ large apparatus that is tested in the locality
of its use by engineers of the National Board of Fire
Underwriters. Fire hose and alarm systems are the
main items affecting the work of fire departments that
receive inspection at the Laboratories, although of course
all such matters as sprinklers, valves, standpipes and
even portable chemical extinguishers are part of the fire-
fighter's problems.

CHAPTER NINE

Building to Last, Not to Burn
I. Studying Burnable Conditions

jk CURRENT joke among New Yorkers before 1897
/jk was that the only fire-proof building in the city
jL jL. stood on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Forty-
Second Street. If curiosity prompted one to investigate
he would find the "fire-proof" building to consist of the
Reservoir — a massive stone wall enclosing and impound-
ing 24,000,000 gallons of water.

The reservoir was demolished at last to make way for
the Public Library, and the question as to whether New
York now has even on&completely fire-proof building is open
to debate. Certainly many buildings are more or less fire
resistant, but a much greater number seem to burn so
readily as to suggest that the city's streets are lined
with thousands of prepared bonfires, awaiting only the
touch of flames.

This also is true in all other American cities and towns,
and with the usual run of country buildings, but it is
conspicuously untrue with regard to many foreign coun-
tries. Indeed the contrast between fire losses in America
and Europe is so striking as to indicate the existence of
very fundamental reasons which, on investigation, prove

A "CLOSE-UP" OF A CONFLAGRATION

That is practically what is pictured here, in so far as it applies to the fire-resistance of roofing If your
house were covered with these shingles, how well would it be protected.- The roofing itself answers
this question by its behavior under many tests, one of which is here shown. Gas burner flames are
being driven against the sample by the wind from a powerful blower, while observers note how long
it takes to ignite, whether glowing fragments are detached, etc.

.^j^Kffi

19h

f N

HOW ACCURATE ARE THE PRESSURE (iAUGES?

Merely to look at this small piece of apparatus one would hardly imagine that it is capable of exerting
pressures up to 25.0()fi pounds per square inch, in checking the accuracy of a gauge (See p. 253)

EXTRACTION APPARATUS FOR RUBBER AND ROOFING

"Rubber" is not necessarily rubber. There are countless adulterants which affect its qualities. This
is an important matter in fire hose, insulated wire and other products. Similar conditions apply to
the saturating and coating compounds used in roofing. The photograph shows a chemist placing a
sample of rubber in a flask preparatory to extraction with acetone. For obvious reasons this room is
ventilated by means of a powerful exhaust fan and the visitor hardly notices the variety of odors

Building to Last^ Not to Burn

to be three-fold, viz. : our traditional American carelessness
as compared with the thrift and precaution of an older
civilization, our larger employment of hazardous devices
and processes, and, chiefly, the highly combustible char-
acter of our buildings.

It is but a few generations since our forefathers found
themselves on a new continent, abounding in forests which
ofi^ered an apparently endless supply of inexpensive
building material. It was Inevitable that frame con-
struction should come into general use, and it was a
natural consequence that fires should become so fre-
quent that Americans looked on them as more or less
matters of course — **acts of God" — although better-
built Europe did not so regard them. Characteristic
American optimism was willing to "take a chance" in the
matter of fire hazard but the results finally grew sobering,
even to optimism. Then it was realized that buildings
must be built to last, not to burn, and architects and
engineers gave a very tardy recognition to the importance
of the subject of fire prevention.

Before long they found themselves handicapped by
lack of information. They knew that a single brick or
block of stone would not burn, and assumed that a building
of brick or stone would not burn, but were distressed to
find that such buildings often proved to be fire-traps.
Apparently it would be necessary to master other factors
before fire-proof or even fire-resistive construction could be

A Symbol of Safety

thought of. This was a matter of Hfe and death to thou-
sands and of vast property values. How, then, might this
knowledge be obtained ?

The study of conflagrations revealed much, but the re-
sults might be misleading because of the uncertain con-
ditions of the fire. After each big fire, manufacturers were
stimulated to produce new forms of roofing, partitions and
other structural material which were confidently labeled
"fire-proof" until another conflagration might show the
fallacy of the claim.

Finally it came to be realized that there was no possi-
bility of checking the nation's mounting fire-waste unless
severe fire conditions could be produced under control and
under expert observation for the purpose of testing and de-
termining the qualities of various building materials
before they were actually employed.

Underwriters' Laboratories began this work in 1903 and
it soon grew into one of the principal activities of the
institution. Today, the tests of building materials have
included a great variety of products representing thou-
sands of different manufacturers and the Laboratories'
influence is felt in the whole field of building design and
construction. Probably generations must elapse before
American towns can be rebuilt along safer lines, but the
steps already taken in that direction are appreciable and
many of these steps are directly traceable to tests con-
ducted on East Ohio Street.

Building to Last^ Not to Bur)!

It has been a rather fanciful dream of the Laboratories
that buildings might some day be constructed entirely
of labeled materials and completely equipped with
labeled installations so that the buildings as a whole
would be entitled to bear the label of the Laboratories.
That this is not wholly imaginative is shown by the fact
that the main testing station on East Ohio Street ap-
proximates such conditions of safety. From every stand-
point it has been safeguarded to a degree that makes
fire hazard almost unthinkable.

The subject of building material tests is well worthy of
a closer view and a glance will now be given at some of
its sub-divisions.

2. Roof Coverings

Most conflagrations are associated with wooden shingle
roofs. The original fires may be due to many causes;
to Mrs. O'Leary's cow (if this famous animal ever really
existed), to shoe-heel lacquer in a Salem workshop, even
to the overflow of a river causing the sudden slacking of
lime in a Georgia basement. In most cases, however,
the fire is trifling until it begins to travel, and its favorite
method of travel is from roof to roof.

A general conflagration is a terrifying thing. It calls
to mind great clouds of acrid smoke, a roaring advance of
wind-driven flames, and a rain of flying sparks and brands
upon the roofs in its pathway, so that these latter

A Symbol of Safety

sometimes begin to burn blocks ahead of the main
fire. With it all, there is the panic-stricken activity of the
threatened inhabitants rushing to escape or to save what
they may of their possessions. A conflagration is the
most dramatic event in American city life; it is of all-
too-frequent occurrence, yet it is almost unknown in
European cities with their solid buildings and their slate,
tiled or metal roofs upon which sparks or brands merely
burn themselves out.

But America is a land of wooden shingle roofs — millions
of them; they are a tradition of our history because they
are cheap, easily applied and easily repaired.

However, the accumulated lessons of fires became so
unmistakable that, rather less than twenty years ago,
there developed a great demand for durable, inexpensive,
fire-resistant roofings to replace the wooden shingle.

Demand is usually followed by supply, and soon
manufacturers produced various forms of roofing that
were marketed as "fire-proof". In actual fires, these did
not always substantiate this claim and the underwriters,
by whom roofing is regarded as an important element in
influencing the spread of fire, realized the need for exact
knowledge on such a vital matter. As soon as the question
of roofing began to affect insurance rates, both users and
manufacturers saw the necessity for an authoritative
judgment and Underwriters' Laboratories, in 1906, began
to make roofing material a subject of test and classification.

Building to Last^ Not to Burn

At first the tests were rather crude, the principal one
being the dropping of red-hot cast-iron discs on the roofing
samples. Nevertheless, so carefully were the observa-
tions made that there has been no instance in which
labeled roofing, in use, has failed to fulfill the requirements
of its classification.

Ultimately the investigation developed into its present
form in which a careful and standardized study is made into
various questions of design, construction, practicability,
durability and other items as well as into the direct ques-
tion of ability to resist heat and flames.

The items in the resulting report represent a greal deal
of work. For instance, "Physical Tests" really includes
also some thorough chemical tests. To the untrained eye,
there is little difference between a piece of rag-felt roofing
saturated with a coal-tar pitch and a piece of asbestos-
felt roofing impregnated with asphalt, but they have
different properties. Even the word "asphalt" is not
sufficiently definite because there are asphalt deposits in
Trinidad, Utah and elsewhere, from which many varieties
are extracted, each of which has certain properties, and
the various manufacturers have formulas of their own for
mixing their saturants, impregnating compounds and
coatings. The Laboratories must know just what the
test samples consist of, so that year after year it may
check up on the manufacturer.

The fire tests are three-fold: Frequently roofing en-

A Symbol of Safety

counters severe heat without being touched by fire brands,
and sometimes bursts into flames from the heat alone.
This is tried out in the first test, in which a drum-shaped
gas-fired oven is heated until the bottom plate glows red
at iioo° F. Then the roofing, which is laid on a wooden
deck as in use, is moved to within ten inches of this plate
and is subjected to the heat until flames appear on the
under side of the deck. Everything is standardized, as
in all other tests, in order that each make shall be tried
under the same conditions.

The next test involves burning brand exposure. A
standard brand is ignited, placed on the roofing sample
and allowed to burn itself out. Some roofings fail under
this test as is shown by the burning of the roof boards;
with others, the boards are uninjured. Every detail is
recorded carefully and photographs are taken.

Then comes a more severe exposure, that of wind-
driven flame. This is really spectacular, for a roaring
mass of flame impelled by a twelve-mile wind from a
blower, leaps from a thirty-six-inch burner and attacks
the surface of the roofing. This test continues until the
roof deck boards are ignited. The time is noted as well
as the rate of the spread of flame over the roof covering
during the test. The blower, by the way, is used in con-
nection with the other tests, and the twelve-mile rate was
determined upon after studying the weather reports of
many years.

Building to Last^ Not to Burn

When roofing has undergone these and still other or-
deals and has been recorded and photographed, there is
no longer room for guesswork as to the claims of its manu-
facturer; its fire-resistant qualities are known and the
classification label awarded to it by the Laboratories
shows exactly what can be expected of it by the public.

J. Windows

On the night of March 15, 1922, the upper eight floors
of the Burlington Building in Chicago were swept clean
of their contents in a great fire that involved fourteen
buildings. This fire caused much discussion because of
the fact that the Burlington Building had been considered
a fine example of modern fire-resistive construction and
many people jumped to the conclusion that the theories
of fire-prevention engineers had been disproved.

Investigation showed, however, that these theories
had been proved, not disproved. The building was an
excellent example of safety construction with one fatal
exception. There was nothing astonishing in the per-
formance of any of the materials which made up that
building; steel, brick, terra-cotta, hollow tile, plaster
block, bronze, marble, wired glass, window glass and wood.

The whole trouble was that these last-mentioned ma-
terials, window glass and wood, were used where they
should not have been used. On each floor of the Burling-
ton Building facing Clinton Street there were nineteen

A Symbol of Safety

ordinary glass windows in wooden frames. From the
ninth to the sixteenth floor these all were damaged very
early by the heat from across the street. About thirty
minutes after flames broke through the roof of the build-
ing where the fire originated — two hundred feet from the
Clinton Street side of the Burlington Building, J. C.
McDonnell, Chief of the Bureau of Fire Prevention,
"noticed that the wooden window frames of the Burling-
ton Building were igniting" and on Clinton Street he
"found window glass falling like a hail storm."

Almost immediately after these windows failed, the
combustible contents of every upper floor were burning.
In a few minutes the wooden flooring, doors, frames, etc.,
also were burning.

In expert discussions of this fire (or rather of these
simultaneous fires on the upper floors) the opinion has
been expressed that light combustible objects were ignited
by the radiant heat from across the street even before the
window glass cracked. This fire was merely a striking
example of the facts that fire frequently makes its entrance
to a building through the windows and that window pro-
tection must never be neglected where there is the chance
of exposure from outside.

In 1903 Underwriters' Laboratories began to test "fire-
windows." Not a single so-called "fire-window" passed.
"They failed miserably." Underwriters' Laboratories'
tests were considered a joke. The majority of manufac-

TESTING A METAL WINDOW FR,\ME

The frame set with panes of wired glass is subjected for one hour to the intense heat of roaring gas
flames. Almost immediately, the glass cracks in many directions. Somewhat later, the iron frame-
work begins to bend inward slightly toward the flames. In the picture, the one-hour exposure is nearly
completed and an observer at the right is taking the measurements of the distortion of the window
frame. A little above his measuring device there is a suspended pole on which strips of cloth are
hung at various distances in order to show the effect of the radiated heat on combustible material.
One of these strips has just burned and fallen to the floor

FIRE-STREAM TEST ON METAL WINDOW FRAME
The movable wall containing the metal window frame has just been rolled from the furnace and the
glowing window is being deluged with a fire stream on the side of it which has been exposed to tire,
in order to demonstrate whether it will withstand the impact: and the sudden contraction of parts
caused by the cooling effect of the water. The back of the furnace, with its complicated system of
air and gas controls may be seen at the left

Building to Last^ Not to Burn

turers of fire-windows thought that no practical window,
acceptable to architects, builders and owners, could ever
meet Underwriters' Laboratories' requirements.

These requirements have never been made less severe.

Today, nearly one hundred manufacturers are making
windows which actually do meet the requirements.

Before describing the tests to which various types
of windows listed by the Laboratories have been sub-
jected, it must be made clear that for severe exposures
even the most fire-resistive window does not furnish
sufficient protection because a window which allows a
great deal of light to come into a room will also allow
a considerable amount of heat to pass through its panes.
Furthermore, even wired glass softens and falls out when
subjected to sufficient heat. Therefore, Underwriters*
Laboratories does not label windows for "severe exposure".

The label [it declares] is evidence of proper construction of the
appliance at the factory. Prospective users should first ascertain
from the inspection departments having jurisdiction which type, if
any, of wired glass windows will be accepted in the location desired,
and should make contracts subject to approval by them of the in-
stallation, glazing and automatic attachments.

Even where shutters are used, wired glass windows are
usually needed. Shutter protection is either automatic
or hand-operated. In the latter case there always exists
the possibility of neglecting to close the shutter; in the
former, some little time must elapse between the beginning

A Symbol of Safety

of the fire exposure and the automatic operation, and
during that time the insufficient protection afforded by a
wooden window with ordinary glass may spell disaster.

While the main classification of fire-windows is for
"moderate" and for "light" fire exposures, the number
of styles and combinations possible is very large, and the
number actually manufactured under the Label runs into
the thousands.

The testing of a fire-window contains some interesting
features. When the many burners have been lighted and
the flames begin to roar behind the translucent wired glass,
there comes a series of reports, as a network of cracks be-
gins to spread over the window. At this point the quali-
ties of wired glass are apparent to the veriest layman,
for the mesh holds the cracked panes tightly in place.

Soon the metal sash acquires a dull color and a strong
radiation of heat comes through the glass. This radia-
tion is tested by means of thermo-couples placed at various
intervals and by strips of cloth hung before the window.
During a test, one or more of these may take fire and
fall to the floor, thus indicating that inflammable material
may be ignited by radiant heat.

As the blue and golden flames play upon the inner sur-
face, the metal sash begins to bend inward toward the
heat until at length there is a pronounced distortion.
Finally, after an hour's experience of this kind, the window
is rolled back from the flames and played upon by a hose

Building to Last, Not to Burn

stream, which causes clouds of steam to rise from the
heated surface and soon tears gaps in the softened wired
glass panes.

During all this time the engineers have been making
careful observations and recording every essential fact.

4. Doors and Shutters

Under "Roofings" and "Windows" we have been con-
sidering protection against fires that attack from the out-
side, but this is the lesser part of the danger; in the great
majority of fires the damage is done by flames that spread
from room to room and from floor to floor in the same
building. Confine a fire and you render it comparatively
harmless. This is one of the chief objects of fire-resistive
construction, which is aided by the knowledge acquired by
Underwriters' Laboratories in its tests of materials and
devices.

Among these tests, those of doors are of exceptional
importance. An inside fire always seeks for openings, and
all rooms must have doorways. An open door is an in-
vitation to a fire as it is to a person, and many doors must
be left open much of the time. This is a simple statement
of a serious fire problem that has been responsible for
thousands of deaths and has given rise to the large in-
dustry of fire-door manufacture.

Necessarily a door is part of a wall or partition, but it is
a moving part and therefore must be light enough for easy

A Symbol of Safety

operation. In the case of a fire, it may be subjected to
heat that will ignite the ordinary wooden door and allow
the flames to spread on the other side. The duty of all
fire doors is to resist such an attack but these are used
under such a variety of conditions that a number of forms
have been produced for the market. Many styles and
makes have been tested and labeled by the Laboratories.
These are grouped according to their use as : (i) "for
openings in fire walls"; (2) "for openings in vertical
shafts"; (3) "for openings in corridor and room parti-
tions"; (4) "for openings to exterior fire escapes," and
(5) "for openings in exterior walls " ; this last class includes
window shutters.

For Openings in Fire Walls. It occasionally happens
that the fire wall in a factory or warehouse obstructs a
raging mass of flame which must not be allowed to spread
into the adjoining compartment. This exposure some-
times lasts for a considerable time and the wall's weakest
parts, its doors, come in for a searching test.

Three general types for openings in fire walls are class-
ified according to method of operation by Underwriters'
Laboratories: the rolling type, the sliding and the swinging
types, of which the latter two are considered jointly.

Rolling steel doors, as well as all other listed fire doors,
are recognized as standard under the conditions of in-
stallation specified in Laboratories' publications.

In this category of doors, those "for Openings in Fire

Building to Last^ Not to Burn

Walls" are also the "Sheet Metal Fire Doors" and the
"Tin-Clad Fire Doors with 3-Ply Wood Cores," with
many makes and types listed under each heading.

For Openings in Vertical Shafts. Next in importance
as safeguards to life are the doors "For Openings in Ver-
tical Shafts." This does not mean that vertical shafts
themselves are less important than openings in fire walls;
fire usually spreads much faster vertically than horizontal-
ly. But whereas in the case of a fire wall there is but one
opening to protect, in the case of a vertical shaft there are
two, and one door will do for each. In other words, for a fire
occurring on the sixth floor of a building, to spread to the
seventh floor it will have to pass through one shaft door,
travel up the shaft and pass through a second shaft door.

The doors in this group belong to the counterbalanced,
rolling, sliding and swinging types and include steel, tin-
clad, sheet metal, hollow metal and metal-clad paneled
varieties. Each of these has its peculiar advantages and
limitations, which are clearly shown in the reports and
the great mass of information growing out of the Labora-
tories' thousands of tests is well worth the study of archi-
tects, contractors and building owners.

For Openings in Corridor and Room Partitions. Parti-
tions used for the sub-division of fire sections of buildings
are of considerable value in safeguarding life and prevent-
ing the rapid spread of fire through buildings.

As retardants, these doors need not possess the qualifi-

A Symbol of Safety

cations required for the protection of openings in fire walls,
in vertical shaft walls or in walls of rooms containing spe-
cially hazardous processes, but they should be capable of
furnishing a substantial barrier to the passage of fire,
and should fulfill all service requirements. This last
means a great deal, because these interior partition doors
are very frequently used.

Many types and patterns of fire doors listed for protec-
tion of openings in fire walls or in vertical shafts are suit-
able for corridor or room partitions. These doors can
be used in this situation, and Underwriters* Laboratories
labels them accordingly.

While in the preceding classes, no glass is allowed,
in this class standard wired glass is permitted, but
the exposed area of individual glass lights must not exceed
1,296 square inches. The use of glass is, of course, a great
convenience in this situation, but when equipped with
glass panels, fire doors afford a limited resistance to fire
and fire streams.

For Openings to Exterior Fire Escapes. Here we have
special reference to the escape of people from burning
buildings. This may take place under panic conditions
and with but few seconds to spare. What then is the very
first requirement for a door so placed? — undoubtedly, that
it must be ''capable of being readily operated from the
inside of the building."

However, there are additional requirements. Such a

Building to Last, Not to Burn

door is exposed to the weather and must not deteriorate
for a long period. Furthermore, it becomes a part of the
outside wall of the building and must protect its opening
from outside fire exposure. "Only such fire retardants
are included in this class," reads the official wording, ''as
have been shown by experience and tests to be capable of
furnishing a high degree of fire protection against fire ex-
posure where mounted on one side of the wall only."

For Openings in Exterior Walls. The final situation for
fire doors includes fire-retardant shutters as well. Obvi-
ously, the protection furnished in this situation must be
against external fires. In congested city districts or In
other cases where the neighboring exposure is severe, this
protection is of the greatest importance and bears on the
fearful conflagration problem.

There is a large variety in listed fire doors and shutters
for exterior walls, including some which are almost in-
visible when open and which can be used to protect the
most beautiful building without marring its appearance.
Several types are automatic; in general this implies a
fusible link on the outside which melts when exposed to
fire and allows the shutter to close. Some of the shutters
have a "manual test release" which can be operated by
the building superintendent on his periodic inspections,
or by officials of the municipality or representatives of
insurance companies.

From the foregoing outline of the many types of fire

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doors listed by the Laboratories, it may readily be seen
that the Laboratories' work, even though distributed over
a number of years, has of necessity been intensive. It
has resulted in a great improvement of all kinds of fire
doors and shutters, and in the creation of new kinds.

Its effect has been particularly marked in relation to
the widely-manufactured tin-clad doors, whose standard
of construction is far more exacting today than was the
case a few years ago; in fact, the earliest doors of this type
showed so much distortion under the fire that they failed
to cover the opening. Another difficulty was found in the
pufiing of the tin from the pressure of gases formed in the
wooden cores. It finally was suggested that a circular
hole be cut in the tin on the exposed side of the door. This
proved successful; doors provided with such openings re-
tained their shape much longer and, during fire tests, the
gases could be seen bursting in a jet of flame from the hole.

Sometimes, indeed, the consideration of doors involves
other phases than that of fire resistance. One incident
is told at the Laboratories of a manufacturer who sub-
mitted a rolling door for outside installation in warehouses
and barns. He was told that his outside door was all
right save in one respect — it was not "sparrow proof".
Taking this comment as a joke he disregarded it but in
six months confessed his mistake, saying that he was be-
ginning to receive many complaints because the con-
struction permitted an opening which was promptly ac-

WORK THAT KEEPS INSPECTORS CONSTANTLY TROWELING

Every labeled tin-clad fire door made in over 230 factories must undergo two separate inspections
by the Laboratories' representatives: First the wood core is examined, and the final inspection
covers the finished door. In addition the inspectors avail themselves of every opportunity to
check up on processes of assembly. This inspector, for instance, is examinmg the workmanship
and the construction of the seams in the tin covering of a door just being completed

PRESSURE UP TO 200,000 POUNDS
Fvprvone knows that there are many grades of concrete and the eye alone cannot judge of their strength
Here^ifama?Wne that cannot be dLlived. The concrete buUding ^ock marked •'B/'.s a^ou^ to ^
crushed bv nowerful iaws which are ab e to exert a gradually mcreasmg pressure up to 200,000 pounas^
&)r^ewhe7e^thm tterange the block will fail. This exact point w,ll be noted by the engmeers in
bomewnere ^^'^n^'J^^^^^;;^ ^, ho will also report how the block behaved under the pressure

Building to Last^ Not to Burn

cepted by sparrows as an invitation to build their nests
under shelter from the weather. The nest litter prevented
the closing of the door and was an entirely valid point of
criticism. This, however, is hardly a typical example.

A door opening, to be satisfactorily protected, should
be provided with a labeled door, equipped with labeled
hardware and mounted in a labeled frame, although, of
course, labels may be applied to doors, hardware and
frames separately.

5. Columns

Everyone who saw in the motion picture "news week-
lies" the showing of the much-discussed Chicago fire of
March 15, 1922, will recall the thrilling collapse of the
Atlantic Building. First the walls began to fall from
various stories, then the steel columns were seen to sag
and, finally, what was left of the building went down while
the spectators gasped.

Columns are among the most important elements in
the strength of buildings, and the instance just cited is
one of many in which the softening of iron and steel under
heat has robbed them of strength and led to disaster.

Architects and engineers were long aware that fire pro-
tection called for some form of insulating covering for
columns and various types were produced; but so many
of these failed in use that there finally arose an insistent
demand for exact knowledge. Tests made by several

A Symbol of Safety

organizations contributed some data but also indicated
that their conclusions were incomplete because of inade-
quate apparatus. It came to be realized that in all the world
there was no piece of apparatus equal to the tremendous
task. Finally the job was taken in hand by Underwriters'
Laboratories in cooperation with the United States
Bureau of Standards and the Associated Factory Mutual
Fire Insurance Companies.

During the years from 191 2 to 191 7, there was erected a
huge combination of furnace and press, capable of taking
a twelve-foot column, loading it with a 250-ton weight
to represent such portion of a skyscraper as it might
be expected to support, meanwhile surrounding it with
a fire as intense as the fiercest conflagration. In con-
nection with this extraordinary test furnace, there were
instruments of delicate precision, for measuring and re-
cording the loads sustained by the sample column, the
temperature of the fire around it, the temperature within
the column itself, the amount of sagging, bending and
shortening under the influence of heat and pressure, and
the distortive and, finally, the disintegrating effect of a fire
stream of cold water turned suddenly upon the hot loaded
column.

While the mighty machine was being built, representa-
tive types of columns and protective coverings were col-
lected and during three years more than one hundred
complete columns were thoroughly tested. The report

Building to Last, Not to Burn

of these tests fills a printed volume of nearly four hun-
dred pages.

The results of the work so far accomplished on columns
may thus be summed up:*

The ultimate fire resistance of all representative types
of building columns, when loaded and under conditions
representing those of actual service in a fire, has been
ascertained.

The relative resistance to fire of various materials and
methods employed for protecting building columns has
been determined.

A great body of reliable data has been provided by
means of which the fire endurance of the various columns
can be compared; and from this information it has been
possible to do a great deal of grading and classifying of
types of columns and methods of fire-proofing.

The effect of fire streams on heated columns has been
ascertained.

Improvements have been developed in the fire resistance
of the insulation and in the methods and conditions of
installation.

One of the series of tests conducted by Underwriters*
Laboratories alone is of almost dramatic interest.

The lumber interests had been greatly concerned over
the apparently poor showing made by wooden columns,
for "mill construction," when meeting certain require-

*See also Appendix xi, page 262.

A Symbol of Safety

ments, had always been regarded as better than unpro-
tected steel of the same strength. Briefly stated, what
astonished all experts was that certain types of wooden
columns which were expected to bear a standard load
while surrounded by a fire whose temperature was in-
creased at a standard rate — and to bear that load for one
hour before "failing," the definition of "failure" also
being standardized and understood by all concerned — did
not live up to expectations; they "failed" after about
thirty minutes instead of one hour.

For two years beginning in 1919, further tests were
conducted to find out what was wrong and how to correct
it, and reports were made. The solution was elusive and
was not reached until the fifth report.

In studying the results of the standard tests, it was
readily seen that the wooden columns failed at the ends —
never in the shaft portion. One phenomenon which might
have passed unnoticed was given careful consideration;
the end seemed to crush at first slowly and then much
more rapidly. Now, this is the commonest of all phe-
nomena in all tests of this sort, but it was decided to avoid
the destruction of possible evidence and to study what was
happening during the slow deformation. Therefore, a
number of tests were stopped suddenly at various stages
of deformation and, at last, after dissecting a number of
samples and studying the appearance of the wood fibers,

the cause was found. From the appearance of these fibers

Building to Last, Not to Burn

at the very ends and at various short distances from the
ends, it appeared that certain conditions of moderate
temperature brought about an unexpected softening —
indeed, an almost plastic condition of the wood at the end.

This overthrew current ideas, being a kind of "failure"
which had never been predicted, and the next step was to
find the remedy by devising an adequate end protection.

Various theories were tried out and abandoned. Finally
experiments were conducted to determine whether a cap
which would completely enclose the end of the column
with insulating material would give better results, and
of ascertaining the best design for such a cap. From the
first, it was seen that this was the right direction.

At last, on October 30, 1919, a column failed under test
— not at the end but in the shaft portion.

Now began a new series of experiments — on full-size
columns, one foot square, just as are used in many build-
ings. With the experience previously gained, it was pos-
sible to determine just what to do to protect the ends of
the columns, and the crowning result of all was a series
of tests in which every column failed in the shaft portion
— not a single end failure — and, what was most gratifying,
the average time of failure was not one hour, which would
have entirely satisfied the lumber people, but one hour
and a half!

While certain supplementary applications are still under
consideration, these tests have had the amazing result

A Symbol of Safety

of showing how the fire resistance of a wooden column
may be increased two hundred per cent.

6. Walls and Floors

While structural engineers may consider a building to
be a series of platforms enclosed by walls, a fire-prevention
engineer is forced to regard them as large boxes in which
people live, work or store goods, and which usually con-
tain smaller boxes, called rooms. Everybody knows that
boxes consist chiefly of sides and these, in the case of rooms
and buildings, are the walls and floors. It follows that a
building having a high standard of roof, windows, doors
and columns may still be highly combustible unless its
walls and floors likewise are fire resistive. Naturally these
come in for constant study at Underwriters' Laboratories.

Again it must be emphasized that incombustible ma-
terial is not necessarily fire resistive in use — // must be
rightly used.

A single brick may survive a very hot fire for a consider-
able length of time, but a wall made of such bricks may be
constructed so poorly that it will not stand up under a
typical fire. Another wall, constructed of materials
which are able to withstand high temperatures, may lose
so much strength under fire that it will no longer support
the floor beams. Some walls make a good showing while
fires rage against them, only to crack and crumble when
struck by the firemen's hose stream.

Building to Last^ Not to Burn

At the instance of manufacturers of various materials
and of associations and official bureaus, Underwriters'
Laboratories is conducting a great number of tests cover-
ing types of walls and partitions. Most of this work has
not been for the labeling of products, but in the nature of
research and classification of familiar types.

Investigations of the fire resistance of building mate-
rials have been conducted in Europe and America for more
than half a century, by official bodies, architectural and
engineering societies, and a great number of commercial
bodies and individual firms. The total amount of work
performed by Underwriters' Laboratories on the subject
of walls, figured in total hours, represents but a small
fraction of the whole, but it has proved to be the most
important and authoritative.

It will no doubt take several years to complete the
classification of walls with regard to fire resistance, strength
and fire-hose-stream resistance. Already, a number of
types of construction have been classified. That is to
say, it is possible to know in advance just how long they
will endure in a typical fire before "failing" — the expres-
sion "failing" being well defined.

In the field of walls and interior partitions of lesser
strength and resistance to fire, the Laboratories has
achieved noteworthy results, and it is now possible for the
architect to give his client definite assurance as to the
performance of listed materials.

A Symbol of Safety

With regard to floors, the problem has been somewhat
different because the floor structure of one story involved
the ceiling of the story below. Therefore, the chief work
of the Laboratories has been not so much that of testing
the highly resistant types as of determining the retardant
value of ceilings of various fire-resisting materials applied
under wooden joist construction, as in frame houses.

The intensely practical nature of the investigation is
shown by certain tests that were made in April, 1922.
The War and post-war conditions had resulted in a great
scarcity of buildings, particularly of dwelling houses. The
cost of materials and labor had checked construction, and
rents, in consequence, had risen to alarming heights.
Newspapers were full of the discussion; it had become a
sociological question of the first rank, affecting as it did
the living conditions of millions of people.

There was an urgent demand for hundreds of thousands
of inexpensive new houses, but the building codes of the
various cities very properly forbade the increase in con-
flagration hazard that would have come from the usual
type of cheap construction.

Here was a serious problem which the Laboratories
tackled from an interesting angle. Accordingly, in April,
1922, a number of people were gathered in one of the
furnace rooms to witness tests that might prove to be of
far-reaching importance.

A section of partition had been inexpensively con-

THE EFFECTS OF CORROSIVE A(,ENTS

The durability and reliability of automatic sprinklers may be seriously affected if they become corroded

dfter iitstallation in a building. In this picture sprinklers in the covered glass vessels are being tested in

corrosive gases in order to determine their ability to withstand such action. (See p. 50)

OXY-ACETYLE.NE WELDING SECTION

Welding is required in some of the operations of the Plant Department and an oxy-acetylene torch is in
frequent use The operator here shSwn is wearing goggles that have been tested and approved by the

Casualty Department (See p. 201j

Building to Last, Not to Burn

structed by nailing metal lath to both sides of wooden
studding and coating the surface with gypsum plaster.
This partition was installed in the front wall of the great
vertical furnace adapted to such use and subjected to the
fierce intensity of gas flames under prescribed conditions.

At the end of the period, the partition was rolled from
the furnace and its glowing surface received the full impact
of a fire stream as might be the case in a real fire. Nat-
urally the power of the stream tore the plaster from the
lathing, whereupon it was discovered that the wooden
framework beneath had been so well protected as to have
suffered less than ten per cent, impairment. In other
words, such a partition would have remained relatively
good after passing through a one-hour fire of more than
ordinary intensity. It was not to be considered "fire-
proof", of course, but it would serve as an efficient fire
barrier for a period of an hour.

Tests of a floor section of the same general type were
made in a horizontal furnace and gave equally good re-
sults. In this case the test included loading the floor with
weights and taking observations to determine whether
there were any sagging beneath the load under the in-
fluence of the fire.

The imaginative spectator could easily let his mind
travel from the technical atmosphere of such tests and
see them in their ultimate human relations. He could
picture the construction of great areas of workmen's cot-

A Symbol of Safety

tages where cheap construction made low rents possible
and furnished safe and satisfactory living conditions
within the reach of small incomes. Such savings in turn
translate themselves in terms of bank accounts, content-
ment and social security.

Doubtless one must check the play of his imagination
within moderation, but doubtless, also, it is true that the
heat waves of the testing furnaces at Underwriters' Labora-
tories set in motion impulses of sociology, economics and
human welfare that travel far.

CHAPTER TEN

Safeguarding ^*The Universal Servant"

I. The Universal Servant

ELECTRICITY has earned the title of "universal
servant." It seems futile to attempt to fix the
boundaries of its human service, for these change
almost daily. Within the memories of those who are not
yet old, it has been viewed first as the subject of interesting
laboratory experiments, then, successively, as an agent for
transmitting messages, for conveying speech, for produc-
ing light, and for furnishing power to be used in transpor-
tation and industry. Today it is a household helper, for
which uses are announced almost daily, it has a definite place
in surgery, and recent investigations into radio phenomena
suggest further possibilities of immeasurable value.

Electricity defies limitation, as it still defies definition.
Every individual in the land is directly or indirectly de-
pendent on some phase of electrical application during
almost every day of his life. He utilizes it in his telephone
calls, his lights, his transportation, his elevator service;
while even the food that he eats and the clothes that he
wears probably have involved the use of electricity at some
stage of their preparation. This intimacy and universality

A Symbol of Safety

of service make it a matter of deep public concern that the
myriad devices and materials through which electricity
is applied be rendered efficient and safe.

As is natural under the circumstances, the last genera-
tion has seen the growth of a very extensive industry
which may roughly be sub-divided into the production^ the
distribution and the installation of electrical supplies and
which therefore includes the manufacturer, the jobber,
and the contractor. Closely related to these groups are
the regulatory authorities and, finally, the user whose
money supports them all.

The work of Underwriters' Laboratories has become
virtually an integral part of the electrical industry; it
exerts a direct influence upon eachof the classes mentioned.

2. What Is the Relation of the Laboratories to the Electrical
Industry?

The relation of Underwriters' Laboratories to the elec-
trical industry is essentially one of service to manufac-
turer, jobber, contractor, regulatory authority and user.
It also furnishes a common meeting ground for the dis-
cussion of questions, tendencies and developments that
are of interest to them all. The nature of this service will
become apparent in an analysis.

First, as to the manufacturer: The highly technical
character of production in the electrical industry makes
the fixing of standards a matter of peculiar importance.

Safeguarding " The Universal Servant'^

Appearances count for so little, and design, workmanship
and materials for so much that the layman's judgment is
practically negligible. Consequently, there is a large
opportunity for manufacturers to bring discredit upon
the entire industry by means of inferior goods. Such
goods, marketed at the lower prices made possible by
their character, would exert a demoralizing influence on
the industry were this not powerfully counteracted.

The chief means to this end consists in the fixing and
maintenance of standards of quality supported by construc-
tion and service tests and by manufacturing inspections.
In this work, the Laboratories cooperates with the manu-
facturer as an individual and with his trade and technical
organizations. These standards, therefore, are the prod-
uct of joint effort to which the manufacturer is himself a
party; they stipulate certain minimum requirements^ but
in no wise limit maximum achievements, and they are
not left to shift for themselves but are rigidly maintained
through a comprehensive inspection system. As a result
the electrical industry is equipped with standards of safety
and performance to a degree that would amaze a layman.

Underwriters' Laboratories has separately examined,
tested and reported upon more than thirty five thousand
different makes and styles of electrical appliances — always
at the request of the manufacturers themselves — and its in-
spectors make frequent visits to many hundreds of factories.

Second, as to the jobber: With this class, the relation is

A Symbol of Safety

very different. The electrical jobber may not be familiar
with the technical values of the goods he sells because
such knowledge may not be essential to the making of
sales. As a matter of fact, he is in position to shift re-
sponsibility on the one hand to the manufacturer who
produces these supplies and, on the other, to the con-
tractor who installs them. His particular interest is in
saleability and, having found that goods bearing the
Laboratories' label are more saleable than others, he nat-
urally prefers to handle them. He has learned to ''look
for the labeV.

Third, as to the contractor: The contractor is the job-
ber's chief customer and the man whose work is under
inspection. His principal contact is with the owner to
whom he is much closer than is the jobber and whose in-
terests he must serve because improper installations may
not only result in unsatisfactory conditions of use but may
also interfere with the owner's safety and his ability to
obtain insurance at the best rate. Therefore the contrac-
tor must comply with the provisions of a code that is very
explicit as to the standards of materials to be employed,
and these standards are assured to him by the Labora-
tories' label. He knows that the municipal inspector and
the insurance inspector will look for the label. This is
why the jobber finds it easier to sell labeled goods.

Fourth, as to the inspector: The inspector must review
the work of the contractor. He bears a large measure of

Safe guar di77g " The Universal Servant^'

responsibility because the standing of the installation as
to its safety and the insurability of the building depend on
his verdict. He is familiar with the regulations and is
able to judge of installation work, but how shall he judge
as to the character of the materials employed? These
materials may easily have important defects of which he
has no technical knowledge.

He can tell how a wire should be put into a house but
cannot determine the quality of the rubber that is used in
its insulation. He can specify whether there should be a
switch or a fuse but is unable to judge the character of a
particular switch or fuse — whether it is a trustworthy
device or a source of danger to the building's occupants.
Such things can be determined only by means of adequate
tests and the average inspector has not the time for mak-
ing tests, the laboratory in which to make them, nor the
experience and special training required to give them value.

The inspector, therefore, is glad to throw all responsibil-
ity in the matter of materials squarely upon Underwriters'
Laboratories by whose rating and label he is guided.

Lastly, as to the user: At least three of the preceding
classes must have some degree of technical knowledge; not
so the user. In order to be able to pass on the character
of the supplies installed for him by the contractor he would
have to become an expert judge of such varied arts as those
which concern the production of yarns, waxes, rubber,
brass and copper goods, automatic machine products,

A Symbol of Safety

porcelain, molded insulations, electrical control of ma-
chinery, all the hazards to persons that may be involved
in electrical devices and many other things. Obviously,
he can at best traverse but little of this vast field of com-
plicated technical understanding although his own wel-
fare, perhaps his own life, may be concerned in it.

Exactly such things as these are made the subject of
minute investigation before labels are awarded by the
Laboratories to the goods that the contractor buys and
installs. Therefore the relations of that Institution to the
millions who employ electricity Is vital and constant
although generally unrecognized by them.

J. The Practical Viewpoint

As soon as we leave the field of generalities and attempt
a closer view of the Laboratories' Investigations of electri-
cal materials and appliances, we are struck by the enor-
mous detail and complexity Involved. While electricity
is fascinating on Its purely scientific side, the Laboratories'
work is controlled by a severely practical viewpoint.
It may think in terms of general laws, but it deals with
specific materials, and It must always consider these
materials as they would be found under the conditions of
actual use. Moreover, while the investigators frequent-
ly are able to make suggestions that increase the efficiency
of the product under test, such suggestions are merely in-
cidental; theli* main concern is with safety in use.

HIGH POTENTIAL TEST OF AN ELECTRIC WATER HEATER

One of the things to guard against in electrical appliances is a possible failure of the insulation which may make
the frame "alive" and shock any one touching it. This engineer is therefore subjecting a domestic water
heater to a voltage far above what it would receive in service. Incidentally, the engineer himself and other
persons are fully protected, because all high voltage parts are in the glass-walled enclosure the doors of which
are interlocked with switches that are "on" only when the doors are closed

TESTING ARMORED CABLE

Armored electric cable is irt almost universal use to-day, and its tests include determination of tension
and elongation in order to learn how tightly the conductor is held in the armored casing. The sample
shown is being subjected to an elongation test by means of a 100-pound weight, and it is required that
the armor shall not show a permanent elongation of more than three inches in a three-foot length, after

one minute of this tension.

Safeguarding " The Universal Servant''

What then is the experience of an electrical appliance
that has been submitted for test, rating and possibly
label ? In thousands of cases it is required to make answer
to five searching questions:

First: Is it suitable for the use intended and can

it be properly installed?
Second: Are its mechanical strength and durability

adequate?
Third: Is it provided with satisfactory insulation?
Fourth: Is it free from liability to dangerous heating?
Fifth: Has the danger of *' arcing" been provided
against?
These questions are asked not verbally but by means of
various kinds of scientific apparatus under the control of
electrical or mechanical engineers or chemists.

First: As to suitability: For example, a given switch
may be suitable on a lighting circuit but not to control a
motor, or it may be a good switch by itself but have no
proper means for connecting it to wiring or conduit or for
enclosing its dangerous parts.

Second: As to mechanical strength: For example — how
strong should be the metal armor of a 2-conductor No. 14
gauge armored cable? The Laboratories' Standard is spe-
cific. It says:

The armor must be of such design that it will not open at any point
after having been subjected for one minute to a tension of 150-Ib.
on a 3 length. This test to be made with the conductors removed
from the armor.

A Symbol of Safety

There follow several more paragraphs which leave no
room for misunderstanding, and there also follow minute
specifications as to the testing apparatus and procedure.
All these precise requirements are involved in answering
the simple question: How strong?, for in no other way
could the unvarying uniformity of the tests be assured.

Third: As to insulation: The question of insulation is
always vital in considering the application of electricity.
Defective insulation that permits "leaking" naturally
reduces the efficiency of the appliance, but (and this is the
especial concern of the Laboratories) it also permits the
escape of the current in ways that may be of hazard to
life and property.

It may be added that, whereas fires of unknown
origin commonly used to be ascribed to "defective
insulation," this custom has practically disappeared.
The Laboratories has exerted a powerful influence in
bringing safety into insulation during recent years.

Fourth : As to heating : One of the large values of electric-
ity is its convertibility into heat, but this also constitutes
one of its chief dangers when such heat is undesired or
excessive. Thousands of fires each year are traceable
to overheated electrical appliances. Therefore, one of
the principal questions to be asked of any product coming
up for inspection concerns its liability to develop heat
in use. For instance, the Laboratories, in 191 8, conducted
an extensive investigation into the minimum cross-

100

Safeguarding " The Universal Servant''

sectional area to be required in certain small parts of plug
fuse bases in order to prevent their becoming unduly heated
and thus causing inequalities in the performance of the fuses.

Fifth: As to "arcing": The liability to permit an electric
arc that is not part of its purpose, is a serious indictment
against any device. Such an arc coming in contact with
inflammable material may cause a fire, or, if it reach
explosive vapor or dust, a severe explosion may result.
Many disasters have been caused in exactly this way, and
the investigator is required to consider all the conditions
under w^hich an unexpected arc may be formed.

In other cases the formation of an arc is an unavoidable
feature of the operation of a device and this fact calls for
special safeguards.

The device that has successively and successfully
withstood thorough scrutiny as to its suitability, strength,
insulation, and heating and arcing characteristics, may
be considered relatively free from hazard, whatever may
be its efficiency in the use for which it was designed.
It is, perhaps, natural enough that the inventor, and, to
some extent the manufacturer, should be so engrossed
with the effectiveness of a product as to give little thought
to its freedom from hazard. The average purchaser can-
not judge the degree of hazard even when his attention is
called to the subject, but the insurance company that
assumes the financial risk of indemnifying a loss that may
be caused by such a product cannot afford to guess at its

loi

A Symbol of Safety

liability to create hazard. Underwriters, therefore, give
careful consideration to the presence or absence of the
label that certifies the tests.

4. The *' Worst Treatment'' Test

The thousands of electrical devices and products which
are submitted to Underwriters' Laboratories for test and
rating may for convenience be divided broadly into three
groups, as follows:

First: Those materials that are purely electrical in their
function, such as wires, cables, conduits, switches and the
other devices for which there are printed or mimeographed
standards.

Second: Miscellaneous devices primarily electrical in
their operation, such as heaters, smoothing irons, etc.

Third: Miscellaneous devices that employ electricity
incidentally, such as electric pianos, vacuum cleaners,
washing machines, and many others.

The first group naturally requires thorough examina-
tion, and tests representing the most severe conditions
that might be encountered in actual service; the third
group requires little more work than that of making sure
that its electrical parts are standard, and that it is suit-
able and well made; but, between these two extremes, there
comes a long list of devices calling for a wide diversity
in examination and test. In this class new problems are
frequently encountered and it becomes necessary to devise

102

BREAKDOWN TEST OF RUBBER-COVERED WIRE AT FACTORY

Many coils of wire taken from the manufacturer's stock are immersed in the steel tank and an electric pressure
of 15<XJ volts A. C. isapplied toall simultaneously. It is obvious that the slightest crack or electrical defect will
allow current to flow. If it does there will be violent bubbling of the water. This very rarely happens,
for the simple reason that the manufacturer's own routine inspections include tests similar to those made

by this Laboratories' inspector

Safeguarding " The Universal Servant'^

new testing methods. To illustrate the practical spirit
of these investigations, take the instance of a wash-room
device which throws out a blast of hot air for the drying of
hands and faces. This being a new device, the engineers
had no comparative data as to its purely electrical fea-
tures but these were found acceptable after simple tests,
one of which was to tie down the foot-switch so as to rep-
resent somebody accidentally placing a box or bucket
on it and then going away and leaving the current on.
The result indicated that near-by combustible materials
would not be ignited through overheating under such
conditions of misuse.

Outside of purely electrical tests, however, it was neces-
sary to make others, such as the "marble test," represent-
ing the placing of small objects in the orifice of the machine
by mischievous boys. As a result the manufacturers
made certain modifications and expressed appreciation
of the Laboratories' practical viewpoint.

The "marble test" just referred to is representative of
a test principle that is applied to most electrical appliances,
and may be called the "worst treatment test". This
means that particular attention must be paid to the abuse
as well as to the use of a product. Its hazard must be
determined in the hands of the careless or unskilled people
who form so large an element of the public. It is im-
portant therefore that a device be made as nearly "fool-
proof" as possible.

103

A Symbol of Safety

In a motor-driven device, for example, the worst
treatment that the motor can receive is that of being stalled
with the current on. Accordingly the engineers re-
produce this condition in order to observe results, partic-
ularly as to whether near-by combustible materials are
likely to be ignited. Of late, there have appeared several
automatic water heaters of the faucet type. The worst
thing that can happen is for the water supply to be in-
terrupted while the current is on. This, too, is forced to
take place under the eye of the testing engineers and the
results are noted. Again there is the safety viewpoint.
In the automatic water heaters just mentioned the worst
feature from the standpoint of accident prevention is
found when there is a possibility that the outer metal
parts or the water stream itself may become "live," and
the examination and tests are devised accordingly.

5. Rubber^ or What?

The electrical tests of Underwriters' Laboratories are
of such number and Interest that volumes would be re-
quired to do them even approximate justice. In the
limited space at our disposal a closer glance can be taken
at but one or two, and among them all nothing is more
important than the testing of rubber-covered wire, of
which familiar commodity, literally millions of miles have
been produced.

Nevertheless, the term "rubber" is not so simple as it

104

Safeguarding " The Universal Servant''

sounds; it is applied to a wide diversity of products repre-
senting many differences in the natural gum, many diver-
sities in the formulas and processes of manufacture, and
a wide range in the use of adulterants. These conditions
have resulted in some products that are excellent for use
in insulation, and others that are conspicuously unfit.
As is so often the case in the electrical field, differences
of quality may not be apparent to the eye, but can be
learned only by means of exacting tests.

Take, for example, the tests of insulation on that popular
size of rubber-covered wire known as "Number Fourteen."
Everyone is familiar with this material but few have
any conception of the ordeal to which it must be subjected
before being awarded the coveted label. Before it can
qualify, it must stand up before its judges and give sat-
isfactory answers to such questions as these:

What is the exact diameter of your copper wire?

Is the copper well centered in the rubber?

Is your rubber wall at least three sixty-fourths of an
inch in thickness?

Has your outer covering of cotton braid the proper
thickness?

Is it of the proper workmanship and is its weave suffi-
ciently close?

Has it received proper saturation?

Are you able to withstand a reasonable amount of bend-
ing back and forth?

105

A Symbol of Safety

What is the quality of rubber used in your insulation?

Will it withstand the prescribed stretching tests as to
elasticity, elongation and strength?

How about the chemical tests of your rubber? What will
they tell us as to acetone extract, alcoholic potash extract,
chloroform extract, ash content and sulphur content?

What is your current leakage when immersed in water?

The answers to these and other questions require the
use of various forms of apparatus and the most intensive
study. To give the briefest accurate description of the
procedure and apparatus in the chemical test alone would
require more than ten pages. Yet there is nothing super-
fluous about them, because wire of this nature is the
familiar pathway of man's "universal servant," ana
unfaithfulness on the part of testing engineers might
permit this servant to slip from its pathway and use its
terrible strength for destruction.

Even after such questions as those cited have been
satisfactorily answered and the label has been awarded,
similar examinations and tests are repeated frequently
on samples taken at the factory by the Label Service
Department inspectors, on samples purchased from stock
offered for sale, and on installation samples secured from
buildings throughout the United States and Canada.

Taken all in all, the Laboratories' influence has been
steadily directed not only toward the improvement of
materials used for ordinary wire insulation, but, what is

1 06

SEARCHING OUT THE QUALITIES OF RUBBER INSULATION

The "rubber" insulation of electric wire contains substances other than rubber; the Laboratori^ in-
sists that it should possess a number of qualities. One of these is "life" and the assistant in the back-
ground is observing the degree to which a sample springs back to size after being stretched. I he oper-
ator in the foreground is separating the insulation from the copper conductor by stretching the latter
until its diameter is reduced sufficiently for the "rubber" to be slipped oft

PHYSICAL TESTING OF RUB15P:R

The sample of insulation irom an electric wire, shown in a preceding illustration being prepared for
a physical test. Here the operator is measuring the distance between the white marks, m order to
note the number of inches to which the rubber stretches before it is forced to snap. The operator at
the other machine is reading the dial of a strength-testing machine which stretches a sample at a
predetermined rate. On the table are other samples to be tested

Safeguarding " The Universal Servant''

at least as important, toward the constant, systematic
and efficient maintenance of standards of quality by
means of adequate and persistent testing. The resulting
increase in public safety can hardly be overestimated.

6. The Electricity of the Skies

While the word "electricity" is derived from ** elec-
tron," the Greek name for amber, because the scienti-
fically-minded Greeks had become interested in the
electrical phenomena that are produced when amber is
rubbed, mankind throughout most of the ages of the world
has known nothing of electricity, save as it has been seen
in the lightning's flash. In all lands, it has been the
subject of superstitious awe and terror. Its destructive
power has been an attribute of the gods. It has been
the bolt in the hands of Jupiter Olympus or the flashing
hammer hurled by the savage Thor, working annihilation
where it has struck.

The destruction wrought by lightning still continues on
a vast scale — so much so that millions of dollars are paid in
lightning insurance each year. Not long ago an investiga-
tion into the cause of some forty thousand rural fires show-
ed that more of them were caused by lightning than by all
other causes combined; yet this same investigation furnish-
ed the interesting information that not one of these fires
had involved a building that was properly provided with
lightning rods.

107

A Symbol of Safety

Thus the subject of hghtning rods has become an im-
portant consideration of pubHc safety and an item of
concern to insurance companies, particularly in the coun-
try districts. As such, it is a natural subject of interest
to Underwriters' Laboratories, where its investigation
practically reverses the viewpoint of most of the electrical
tests: Here the purpose is not that of creating, directing
or applying the electrical current, but of diverting and
dissipating it.

One might be inclined to believe offhand that tests of
lightning rods presented a very simple problem. Simple
in appearance as they may be, they involve a great
deal of work on the part of the Laboratories, which
maintains a staff of traveling inspectors to report on
installations.

It must be borne in mind that lightning rod equipments
are purely electrical, even though they are not wiring
devices. The Laboratories has a printed standard for
their construction and installation, which is over sixty
pages in length; goes into the details of thorough examina-
tions and tests of the materials employed; specifies the
metals, weights, sizes and shapes of conductors, terminals
and fasteners for structures under sixty feet in height,
those from sixty to one hundred and fifty feet, and those
over one hundred and fifty feet; describes proper installa-
tions for various forms of buildings, roofs, steeples,
smokestacks, tanks, etc., and describes the two-fold label

io8

Safeguarding " The Universal Servant''

service procedure — consisting of inspections at factories
and reports on labeled installations.

This last feature is very interesting, in that it requires
two successive reports: first, one from the manufacturer
of the materials employed in the installation, which must
be made out within thirty days after date of installation;
second, a report from a Laboratories' inspector to whom
the manufacturer's report and other information has
been referred; the latter not only verifies the first report
but checks up the workmanship of the job, examines bends
in conductors for cracking or flaking of the protective zinc
coatings, notes w^hether provision has been made to pro-
tect ground rods so located as to be subject to injury or
displacement, makes sure that large metallic objects within
the buildings are grounded, does the same for metal fences
attached to buildings, and makes recommendations.

When it is found that the Laboratories' requirements
for standard installations have not been complied with in
all essentials, the manufacturer is notified and must make
the necessary corrections within thirty days. He then
notifies the Laboratories, which arranges for re-inspection
— at the manufacturer's expense.

y. ''Economy'' vs. Safety

It has already been stated that the electrical industry
is subject to the intrusion of those manufacturers who are
willing to sacrifice quality to price, and the layman, in-

109

A Symbol of Safety

capable of exercising judgment in such a technical field,
must depend upon the expressed opinions of others al-
though his own safety may be at stake. As previously
explained, the severe tests of thousands of electrical prod-
ucts conducted by the Underwriters' Laboratories, and
the use of the label to certify these tests to the public, have
constituted a safeguard recognized both inside and outside
of the industry as a means for maintaining its standards
and increasing its efficiency. They have aided the better
class of manufacturers in their efforts to eliminate the unfit.
As a single extreme instance of the need for eternal
vigilance, there was placed upon the market an "electrical
toaster" of which its manufacturers doubtless expected
a large sale, as it was capable of being offered to the public
at the low price of ten cents. In order that it may be
realized what would have been their effect on public
safety, several passages from Underwriters' Laborator-
ies' report are cited:

AN ELECTRIC TOASTER FOR TEN CENTS

***** in which the amount of material is reduced to a minimum
and the construction to the simplest form. ***** horizontal
type and is simply a rectangular sheet-metal frame supporting several
wires across the top, spaced about i| inches apart, and a length of
resistance ribbon terminating in a pair of ordinary dry battery bind-
ing screws and looped between two narrow strips of asbestos board.
The device consumes 580 watts on a iio-volt circuit.

***** Among those hazards may be mentioned the exposed
and unprotected heating elements; lack of protection from heat

SHORT CIRCUIT TEST OF A LARGE FUSE

Protected by a cage and a partition, this engineer observes the fuse in the former through an opening in the
latter, and is about to "throw a dead short" by closing the switch with his left hand. In the event of a
disastrous failure of the fuse he can clear the circuit immediately by yanking the rope operating a large
toggle switch. Photos taken at the Laboratories' fuse testing station near the Kingsbridge (N. Y.) sub-
station of the N. Y. C. R. R.

TESTING A SMALL ELECTRIC LIGHTING PLANT

Thousands of farm houses and suburban homes are employing individual electric lighting plants,
wherein an interna! combustion engine drives the electric generator which furnishes the current. Such
plants call for a wide diversity of tests as to a number of features. In the picture, the engineer is using
a tachometer to record the speed of the generator, and determine whether the electric windings overheat

Safeguarding " The Universal Servant'*

***** surface under the toaster;* * * * * liability of loose
strands of the supply wires coming in contact with and making the
frame "alive," and the use of supply wires having insulation not de-
signed for electric heaters.

There follow the disastrous results of tests under condi-
tions representing actual service in a home, concluding as
follows :

With the toaster placed on a plain uncovered pine board, with a
square of sheet asbestos where a slice of bread would be placed, flames
enveloped the toaster in six minutes.

In the 25 minute period over which the foregoing tests were con-
tinued, the insulation ***** adjacent to the terminals was
entirely destroyed by the heat for a length of about two inches
***** so that the bare strands of both wires could come in con-
tact with the edges of the frame of the heater.

Such a "ten-cent" toaster might easily result in a fire
costing thousands of dollars to its user.

Similar conditions in greater or less degree are found in
numerous other products. There can be no true economy
apart from safety, and the label which spells safety is a
servant of genuine thrift.

8. The Groivth of the Electrical Department

The foregoing sketch gives but a brief and inadequate
glimpse of a work of great scope and complexity that en-
gages the entire time of a number of engineers.

It has already been told (Chapter Four) how Under-
writers' Laboratories originated in the establishment of
facilities for making simple tests of electrical materials

III

A Symbol of Safety

at the time of the World's Fair in Chicago. From that
time to the development of the present many-sided in-
stitution, this department has held its place as one of
the most extensive and important of all the divisions of
work undertaken. The growth, however, has been inten-
sive as well as extensive, and is sometimes misunderstood
by those not familiar with its genesis and reasons.

It must be remembered that this development has not
been in the nature of a restraint imposed on the electrical
industry from without but is the result of a process of
evolution, both internal and external.

For more than a decade before the establishment of the
little Monroe Street testing shop, there had existed rules
intended to insure safety in the use of electricity and these,
in turn, were the result of the growing number of fires that
were electrically caused. Gradually it came to be realized
that the reduction of this hazard must be based upon the
possibility of specifying the use of electrical goods o( known
characteristics, of uniform quality and according to uni-
form rules.

The New York Board of Fire Underwriters was the first
to issue a printed set of rules to this end, a brief circular,
placing great reliance upon the judgment of "surveyors"
and the "Inspector". The first printed set of rules of
national application was issued by a joint conference of
insurance and electrical industry representatives, known
as the National Electro-Insurance Bureau. This was in

112

Safeguarding " The Universal Servant''

1 891 and the title was "The National Code of Rules for
Wiring Buildings for Electric Light or Power."

It must not be imagined that the promulgation of that
first national code was really effective. Far from it ! Even
today, in spite of the admirable National Electrical Code
issued by the National Board of Fire Underwriters and
constantly revised by the National Fire Protection Asso-
ciation, which is a federation of over 130 associations, in-
dustrial bodies and governmental bureaus, uniformity of
regulation has not yet been achieved throughout the
states or even throughout the various counties and town-
ships of some individual states.

A glimpse at the situation existing just prior to the in-
ception of the laboratory work is given in the following
quotation:

Early in 1892, Secretary C. M. Goddard of die New England
Insurance Exchange suggested a meeting of electrical inspectors of
several underwriters' organizations to consider uniformity of rules.
This meeting, held in August of that year, carefully considered this
code, section by section, in order to make such changes as the ex-
perience of the insurance inspectors indicated were necessary in the
interest of the insurance companies.

This effort for uniformity of insurance rules was so successful
that another meeting was held in December of the same year, to
which the inspectors of all insurance boards in the United States
and Canada were invited. At this meeting a permanent organiza-
tion was effected and an Electrical Committee appointed, whose
duties were to be [a) the care of the rules, {]?) the making of tests,
and (f) the giving of information and advice to members.

113

A Symbol of Safety

Here, then, were two interests, both of them sincerely
desirous of promoting safety in the use of electricity, but
approaching the problem from different sides. The elec-
trical industry was dependent for its growth on public
favor which was imperilled by all evidence of hazard, and
had the best of reasons for wishing to eliminate such haz-
ard. The insurance companies on the other hand had
come to regard electricity as a possible source of firs and
therefore were forced to study its elements of fire danger.
The growth of the use of electricity thus produced a situa-
tion that, in 1893, found expression in the establishment
of a tiny station for testing electrical supplies in behalf
of the underwriters. As a matter of fact, had not the
genesis of Underwriters' Laboratories occurred in just
this way, some institution resembling it would doubtless
have grown from some other acorn. It was a manifest
necessity.

There were, of course, large possibilities of clashing
through mutual misunderstanding had the original en-
counter been unsympathetic. However, the spirit of the
Laboratories' work was shown at the outset when Mr.
Merrill approached the manufacturers with the request:
"Tell me about your problems. I want to know. Tell
me about your tests. I want to know what you consider
fair. I want to learn your own ideas about minimum
requirements and about inspections." Thus were born
the Industry Conferences that have played so large

114

PERFORMANCE TEST FOR ENCLOSED SWITCHES

The protection afforded by enclosed switches is so important where electricity is used to any large
extent, that a number of makes are on the market. One of them is shown receiving a performance
lest, in which the load is adjusted by means of a bank of resistance grids shewn in the background.
The casing of the enclosed switch is effectively grounded during the conduct of these arcing; tests, repro-
ducing the same conditions that would be found in service with conduit connections

A TEST THAT MEANS SIXTEEN YEARS OF USAGE
If vou use an electric lamp every evening for sixteen years you will have worked the switch about
IJlve th^u^nd times. This machine operates key sockets, pull-cham sockets. P^f button swiches,
surface snap switches and other such dev ces, at the rate of about twenty snaps on and off per mmute,
while current flows through them and lights the lam^. The switches must comple e s.x thousand
cycles of operation and still be serviceable mechanically and electrically

Safeguarding " The Universal Servant'^

a part in the electrical activities of Underwriters' Labora-
tories ever since.

Today, in spite of occasional differences of opinion, the
growth of the work has been characterized by a really
remarkable spirit of cooperation in which the attainment
of standards has been registered, rather than forced. Every
organization having anything to do with electricity has
contributed its share to the growth of Supervision, Regu-
lation and Education with regard to the manufacture,
installation and use of electrical appliances.

This has involved the development of the famous Na-
tional Electrical Code of installation rules, or the "Fire
Code" as it is frequently called, and also the National
Electrical Safety Code, bearing on safety from accident
rather than fire. While the Laboratories' staf? has been
intimately associated with other bodies in the develop-
ment of both these codes, their discussion lies outside the
province of this account.

Supplementary to these, the Laboratories has gradually
evolved a great accumulation of detailed rules governing
its own requirements and work on electrical appliances —
always in conformity with national codes. These rules
are known as standards. For instance, there is the Stan-
dard for Snap Switches, which is printed; other rules are
mimeographed; some, as in the case of new products, are
typewritten documents of which only five copies are filed.
All these rules have been systematically arranged and codi-

115

A Symbol of Safety

fied, and they now form part of a third code, which, while
of national application, is not called National in order to
avoid confusion. It is the Underwriters' Laboratories'
Code of Standards for Construction and Test of Electrical
Appliances. For the sake of convenience, this body of
rules is generally known as "The Standards".

Volume One of the Laboratories* code of standards is
a thick book of over 500 loose-leaf pages. It consists only
of the wiring device standards which have been printed.
These naturally govern the subjects on which the most
work has been done — products that have become the
recognized staples among the multitude of electrical goods.
Besides snap switches, the products covered by the printed
standards are as follows:

Rubber-Covered Wires and Cables, Armored Cables
and Cords, Cabinets and Cutout Boxes, Knife Switches,
Soldering Lugs, Flexible Cords, Renewable Cartridge En-
closed Fuses, Electric Ranges, Flexible Non-metallic
Tubing, Rigid Conduit, Cartridge Enclosed Fuses, Elec-
tric Signs, Panelboards, Cutout Bases, Ground Clamps,
Fixture Wires and Heater Cord.

The standards, supplemented by procedure manuals
for individual manufacturers, specify every feature of the
examinations and tests on electrical appliances and sys-
tems submitted to the Laboratories. Moreover, they
describe in some detail the nature and scope of the follow-
up inspections at factories, and tests of market samples.

116

Safeguarding " The Universal Servant^*

Some of the regular tests have been described. For many
new products no regular requirements and tests are speci-
fied, and it may be said that there is an unwritten volume
of the Laboratories' Code — in the brains of the test
engineers!

In addition to the Laboratories' code of standards,
there is another widely-known compilation which origi-
nally appeared at the back of the printed National Code,
where it then took up not more than several pages. It
is the official list of products — devices, appliances and
systems — which have been found to comply with the re-
quirements of all three codes. In 1906 it was decided
by everyone concerned that this information should be
separate from the National Code; and, inasmuch as the
Laboratories made the investigations and tests and issued
the manifests of compliance in the form of labels, it was
selected as the logical institution to take charge. This
information is now issued only by the Laboratories, in the
form of its semi-annual List of Inspected Electrical Ap-
pliances. The April, 1922, edition has over 250 pages,
and its index contains more than 250 headings of
classes of devices. Names and addresses of the manu-
facturers are also given, as well as brief explanatory
statements.

Thus from humble beginnings the Laboratories' elec-
trical work has grown to its present great proportions and
has developed with the electrical industry a cooperative

117

A Symbol of Safety

relationship of public service that has been summarized
by Vice-President Pierce in the following words:

As the Code and as the Underwriters' Laboratories' standards rep-
resent the experience of the industry, and have come largely out of
the industry itself, so the public respect for them, and the support
of them, so far as they are reasonable, and as they are revised to keep
pace with the industry, from year to year, must rest — not with the
compulsion of the insurance company alone; not with the force of
law backed by the policeman, as representing the city inspector; but
with the intelligence of the fair-minded, disinterested, and successful
electrical industry, confident of its service to the public, proud of its
record, and believing in its superiority in rendering a form of service
which no group other than the electrical industry can render.

ii8

CHAPTER ELEVEN
A Department that Outgrew Its Name

I. Correcting " The Defects of Their Qualities''

THE American mind is naturally inventive, which
is one of the chief reasons why it is so hard for pro-
tection to catch up with hazard. No sooner does
some safety problem approach solution than there may
appear on the market a new material or a new device
that upsets calculation. Of course, people do not set out
to invent hazards. They are working for useful results,
and the hazard is incidental, often unrecognized, until it
discovers itself. There are mysterious fires, it may be,
or unexplained explosions, which, when traced to their
causes, are found to have originated in some new form of
utility. Then, once more, it becomes necessary to start
patiently and painstakingly on the process of obviating
such hazards.

It can be stated with certainty that at any given mo-
ment thousands of minds at various points are then en-
gaged in invention or research. A closed door, which one
passes quite unaware, may hide an inventor or a scientist,
absorbed in labors which next month or next year may

change the course of some established industry. This is

119

A Symbol of Safety

true particularly in the unceasing search for sources of
power that is increasingly one of the world's greatest
problems, but it applies as well to almost every other
field of human endeavor. This is one of the reasons why
the work of Underwriters' Laboratories does not approach
completion, but grows ever more diverse and extensive.

There is a large and very useful group of solids, gases,
and liquids which, for want of a better term, may be
called "hazardous substances," meaning thereby those
having the liability to sudden and violent chemical change.
These bring service and peril to mankind in many ways.
Their principal service is due to the fact that energy liber-
ated through the chemical action can be transformed into
power, light or heat; the peril arises from the danger that
such liberation may be excessive and uncontrolled. In
other words, they "have the defects of their qualities".

Like many other gifts of science, these hazardous sub-
stances are comparatively recent associates of mankind.
Our great-grandfathers knew gunpowder as practically the
sole representatives of the group, and the dictionaries of
even one generation ago defined the now indispensable
gasolene as "a volatile fluid used for cleaning". Today,
however, power-hungry civilization has learned to unlock
the immense potentialities for service of which it was so
long ignorant but, in so doing, a succession of disasters
has warned it of the necessity for developing safeguards
through constant, comprehensive scientific research. At

1 20

A Department that Outgrew Its Name

no other place in the world is there so adequate a study of
safety methods and appliances for use in connection with
hazardous substances as at Underwriters' Laboratories.
Much of the nation's recent progress in this direction Is
traceable to the work of two of the departments — that
of Gases and Oils and that of Chemistry.

The title "Department of Gases and Oils" is used
merely for convenience because no more descriptive title
has yet been found for the wide and diverse activities of
the department. It deals in general with hazardous sub-
stances but so, also, does the Chemistry Department, the
main difference being that the Chemistry Department's
work concerns itself with the inherent properties of these
substances while that of Gases and Oils takes into account
the mechanical means for producing, storing, handling and
utilizing them. Constantly the two departments cooper-
ate; often, unavoidably, they overlap. The Gases and
Oils Department dates back almost to the beginning of the
work of Underwriters' Laboratories, coming next in order
to the Electrical Department. It has already been told
that the discovery of acetylene at about the same time as
the founding of the institution led to the production of
crude and dangerous types of generators and the study of
their hazards by W. C. Robinson, Mr. Merrill's earliest
associate. The testing of acetylene generators has been
an important feature of the work ever since, but with
it have been grouped an ever-widening range of activities

121

A Symbol of Safety

in many other fields, including, in particular, that of
** first-aid" fire extinguishers, more fully discussed in the
chapter on fire-fighting equipment.

2. The Handling of Hazardous Liquids

The most familiar of the ** hazardous liquids" are gaso-
lene, kerosene and other members of the petroleum family;
to them may be added the alcohols and ethers, collodion,
turpentine, carbon disulphide, paints and oils and their
constituents; dryers, lacquers, and various other volatile
and flammable fluids, some of which are subject to spon-
taneous ignition. The devices and appliances connected
with them are so many that it is manifestly impossible to
go into a detailed discussion, but two or three instances will
give a glimpse of the nature of the tests conducted.

Foremost, of course, comes gasolene, that miracle of
liquid energy which is known wherever there are roads to
be traveled or farms to be tilled. With a capacity so
great that the vapor from one gallon is equal in explosive
power to eighty-five pounds of dynamite, its well-nigh
universal storage and widespread use present a serious
safety problem.

For example, in a recent instance a tank truck stopped
at a service station to refill the underground tank. There
was a sudden fire of unknown origin. The operator
dropped the hose and ran, but soon there was an explosion
which enveloped in flames everyone within a radius of

122

LEARNING WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IN A FIRE

There are five gallons of gasolene in the glass container of this visible measure discharge device. Would
they cause an explosion in case of exix)sure to an outside fire? Apparently not, for when tested with a
hot blaze from the vapor of twenty gallons poured into the pan beneath, the glass merely cracked;

there was no explosion

STUDYING GASOLENE SUPPLY DEVICES

The widespread use of visible measure discharge devices indicates the importance of safeguarding them
in every respect against gasolene leakage or other defects. At Underwriters' Laboratories they are
carefully checked for suitability of materials, arrangement and strength of parts and workmanship,
and are subjected to various tests dealing with reliability of operation, leakage in joints, rate of fiow
of liquid, the liability to accidental breakage and all other essential points

A Department that Outgrew Its Name

fifty feet. Eight persons died and people two hundred
feet away were painfully burned.

The Department of Gases and Oils has spent much time
on the obviating of such disasters and has investigated
many devices, some of which have presented difficult
problems, as in the case of a new type of curb pump in
which "during the process of development the manufac-
turer consulted with the Laboratories continuously."

The extent of the work thus devolving upon the Lab-
oratories may be gauged from a glance at the mere head-
ings of the description of the device as given in the
Laboratories' 5,000- word report:

Assembly, base, motor, pump, platform, rotary pump, filter, hand
drive mechanism, measuring compartment, glass cylinder, dome, cyl-
inder guard, valves, operation, locking and interlocking mechanism,
pipes and fittings, packing materials, protection of metal parts, hose
vent, housing, meter, hose and attachments and electrical equipment.

From the fire-prevention viewpoint the essential fea-
tures of the investigation included studies and tests with
regard to construction, probability of leakage, strength,
deterioration and suitability for use. The usual tests
were made as to construction, strength, electrical features,
and operation tests, also some special leakage tests. One
test consisted in trying to build a pressure in the measuring
compartment by various means, and it was noticed that
this could not be done — on the contrary, a partial vacuum

was developed. The leakage tests consisted in applying

123

A Synnbol of Safety

pressures of twenty-five or of fifty pounds per square inch,
according to the nature and use of the parts, and then
watching for leaks. Studies and tests were also made of the
Jocking and interlocking mechanisms and safety features.
An interesting investigation involved a self-service
coin-operated curb pump to which the motorist is to be
attracted by a sign that reads: "Help Yourself Gas."
On investigation he finds three coin slots, for quarters,
halves and dollars, three gauge-glasses with pointers show-
ing how much he will get for each coin, as per current
rates; also these directions: "Notice, i. Place hose in tank.
1. Drop only one coin in slot. 3. Press button. Gas
will be measured, then flow into tank." This device
involved an entirely new hazard, for the question was
asked: What if it got out of order and failed to supply
"gas" after accepting a coin? Might not an irate motor-
ist thereupon pick up a rock and vent his spite on the
machine, causing leaks and perhaps a fire? Nothing like
this problem had ever come within the sphere of the
Laboratories, but appropriate tests were devised, and it
was ascertained that the machine was reasonably safe-
guarded by a mechanical provision for closing the slots
whenever there was no gasolene in the supply tank or no
compressed air in the system that forced the gasolene up
to the measuring compartment. During the investiga-
tions— which covered many other items — improvements
were made "in practically every detail of construction"

124

A Department that Outgrew Its Name

and the final form of the device was very different from
that originally presented.

The use of gasolene in dry-cleaning establishments has
led to the development of various automatic and auxi-
liary extinguishers to reduce its fire hazard. An impres-
sive demonstration of some of these safeguards was made
at an Atlantic City cleaning establishment during the
May, 1922, convention of the National Fire Protection
Association. The gasolene was repeatedly ignited and
each time was swiftly extinguished by means of automatic
lids, steam jets or foam.

The tremendous utility of kerosene oil, because of its
wide distribution, ease of handling, comparative cheap-
ness, and the fact that it is not volatile at air temperature,
have led to its employment in millions of households, as
well as its use for industry and in transportation. Mech-
anisms without number have been devised in connection
with various phases of its use, and many of these have
been tested and listed by the Laboratories. Among them
may be mentioned the comparatively recent development
of kerosene oil burners for household furnaces.

These tests involved a great responsibility because of
the fact that outside underground storage tanks are not
always practicable in dealing with homes, and the ad-
ditional facts that the devices always must be "ready to
run" and not unduly expensive, without sacrificing any
of the precautions for safety. In fact, the function of the

12^

A Symbol of Safety

Laboratories as regards oil-burning mechanisms is some-
what different from its policies on most other subjects.
It not only strives to eliminate hazards but to make sure
that these burners justify the manufacturers' claims as to
simplicity and positiveness of operation; this is because
burners that tempt the user to tamper with them are
almost certain to get out of order and become hazardous.

Briefly summarized, here are some of the direct eflFects
of the Laboratories' activities upon the manufacture of
domestic oil burners, whether listed or not:

Pipe lines are being better protected from damage.

Oil line joints have been made tighter — metal-to-metal
unions of standard type are beginning to be preferred to
the gasketed types; litharge, glycerine and shellac are
being used increasingly; the use of rubber, which dis-
integrates rapidly in contact with oil, and the custom of
filling the auxiliary storage tank in the basement, are
being discouraged.

Valves are being made of better and safer construction.
This is particularly the case with regard to automatic
shut-off valves which may sometimes play an important
part in safeguarding life and property. For example,
during the war a hot billet of steel was dropped upon a
feed pipe containing oil under a pressure of loo pounds per
square inch or more. The pipe was broken and the oil
Ignited, but the automatic shut-off valve immediately
operated and the flow ceased at once. As a consequence

126

SAFETY REQUIREMENTS IN OIL-BURNING EQUIPMENT

Many motor-driven oil burners are now on the market. Their use has become an important consider-
ation in judging of fire hazard. The Laboratories makes frequent tests of such devices. In so far as
practicable, they must be noiseless, odorless, uniform and reliable, free from carbonization or other
troubles that would lead to tampering, and supplied with all necessary safety features. The tests con-
sider supply lines, strainers, valves, automatic cut-off, pre-heating pan, electrical system, generator, air

duct and many other items

^ORTY DEGREES BELOW ZERO IN CHICAGO

This picture does not suggest a winter temperature, yet the engineers here depicted are making carton
dioxide snow by the rapid expansion of liquefied carbon dioxide, which is being released from the cyhnder
and retained in the bag. Why? In order to learn whether extinguisher fluids will freeze under severe

conditions of cold

A Department that Outgrew Its Name

there was nothing more than a momentary flash of
fire instead of an outburst of flame that might otherwise
have filled the building. As this accident took place in
a munitions factory the catastrophe which might have
resulted might well have been of national importance.

Since the average fuel oil bought for domestic use
contains sediment, manufacturers have been encouraged
to provide strainers of acceptable types, and so to install
them that cleaning may be accomplished without dis-
mantling the pipe line.

It having frequently happened that manufacturers
neglected to consider the rigidity of the burner itself as
installed, the Laboratories has brought about the provi-
sion of secure attachment means, so that external shocks
are now of little consequence.

Burners with moving parts are now being sold with drain
pans to catch waste lubricant, thus avoiding the former
unsightly and hazardous accumulation on basement floors.

The importance of such work was shown by an analysis
of ninety-five fires resulting from fuel-oil systems published
in the National Fire Protection Quarterly; among these
were the following direct causes:

Broken and defective pipes, fittings and valves 38 Fires
Explosions in furnaces or in pipes . . . . 6 **
Broken and defective burners and burner con-
nections 5 "

127

A Symbol of Safety

Oil getting into air pipes 3 Fires

Defective or improperly installed tanks • . 3 **

It is safe to say that in these particular cases the proper
installation of improved supplies would have avoided
fire. Seven more cases were from overheated oil furnaces
and may be ranked as partly preventable by mechanical
means while most of the others were chargeable to human
carelessness.

J. Dealing with Hazardous Gases

Such fluids as gasolene owe their value as power to the
fact that they may be easily converted into gas, but there
are also many products that are naturally gaseous at air
temperature, and must be handled and used in this form.
Among these is acetylene, which, next to electricity, is
the oldest concern of the Laboratories. Everyone is
familiar with the brilliant white flame produced by acety-
lene, that strange-smelling gas that results from the action
of water upon gray rocklike calcium carbide. Its il-
luminating power and its great convenience have given
it a widespread household use, particularly in country
districts. It has been much employed for automobile
lights and within the past few years the oxy-acetylene
torch has shown its value for use in welding and its power
to cut through steel as a saw cuts through a board.

Repeatedly this power has been used in saving life.

128

A Department that Outgrew Its Name

At the time of the "Eastland" disaster, when a crowded
excursion steamer turned over at her pier in the Chicago
River, most of the survivors owed their Hves to the fact
that the rescuers were able to cut their way through the
metal plates of the vessel's hull.

All this has come about within a single generation and
as in many other instances, utility and hazard have de-
veloped side by side. For nearly thirty years a succession
of acetylene generators and appliances have been sub-
mitted in completed form, in model form, or even as in-
ventors' drawings to the Gases and Oils Department of
Underwriters' Laboratories and have been developed in
consultation with its acetylene experts. Indeed it was in
connection with the work in this field that the well-known
"plan of investigation" was first worked out. The acety-
lene industry has benefited by all this work and manu-
" facturers often express their appreciation, even in cases
where the engineers have insisted on costly changes m
design, construction or process.

For example, in the recent case of a "Class A" genera-
tor for welding and cutting, ten improvements were made
between the time of first submission and the final Council
Report, and these changes included the complete redesign-
ing of certain important parts, improvements in the m-
ternal protection against corrosion and the addition of
various safety features that were not in the original design.
Some of the tests for these devices are based on reasons

129

A Symbol of Safety

that would not be apparent to the layman. An example
of this is found in the tests of the composition of the metal
parts, in which brass with a high copper content is not
allowed, because it might be subject to chemical action
that would result in the formation of copper acetylide,
and copper acetylide is a detonating explosive. Such
points as this emphasize the need for wariness and techni-
cal understanding in conducting investigations in order
that the unconscious public may be shielded from the
multiplication of dangers. The degree to which the
hazards of acetylene have been reduced is the result of
exactly this kind of painstaking attention to details, and
the Laboratories' listing of a device stands for searching
tests that are calculated to uncover its every defect.

While acetylene generators were the earliest point in
the work of this department, other forms of gas generators
and appliances had long given concern to the fire insurance
companies, as was evidenced in a report by a "Committee
on Gas Machines" of the National Board of Fire Under-
writers made in the late 6o's. At the present time, both
illuminating gas and natural gas, as well as some other
forms, are employed in millions of homes as well as in
many commercial and industrial establishments, and the
Department of Gases and Oils is called upon to deal with
many devices having reference to them, as they are the
cause of numerous fires and explosions.

Here is a characteristic instance: One night in a printing

130

STUDYING THE SAFETY OF ACETYLENE GENERATORS

Full-load operation lest of a medium-pressure small generator, using 1<'^^-Pf ^^^^^/^ ^"L""t !yP^^^^^
IhrouEh a reducing valve, the amount of acetylene bemg measured by a gas meter and the pressure
varmtlons being recorded by the gauge shown hanging on the wall. Two large generators stand m the
background ^r^^^^^^^ to undergo the many tests which have contributed to the improvement

*'oUhesrdevces since the lirst crude and hazardous forms were submitted thirty years ago

OPERATING TESTS ON ACETYLENE RELIEF VALVES

Acetylene generators of the medium-pressure type are not to be subjected to pressures in excess of
fifteen pounds per square inch. This necessitates the provision of adequate mechanical relieving fa-
cilities in the form of relief valves. Relief valves are subjected to tests to determine the reliability of
operation, sensitiveness, relieving and closing pressures and volume relief

A Department that Outgrew Its Name

plant the gas pressure fell very low, causing the automatic
regulator to open wide. After midnight the pressure re-
turned, but the regulator failed to operate. As a con-
sequence the boiler and flue became so overheated as to
ignite the ceiling over the boiler and an |i 8,000 fire re-
sulted. It is presumable that if the gas regulator had
been a product listed by the Laboratories, this would not
have occurred, since exactly such points come within the
range of the test.

Where natural or city gas is not available and gas is
desired, it can be made in any of the several types of
listed gas producers. Considerable attention is also
given to labeled gas systems based on the use of liquefied
hydrocarbon gas made from petroleum distillate, which
is conveyed from the familiar steel shipping cylinders.
Gasolene gas machines also come within its scope.

4. Miscellaneous Devices

Under this heading the work of the department of
Gases and Oils ranges at some points far afield and in-
cludes such items as incubators and brooders, heating
systems, lighting plants, furnaces, clothes driers, dry-
cleaners' equipment, equipment for various hazardous
industrial processes, baling presses, doughnut machines,
pitching plants and many other devices which must be
safeguarded to the users.

Among these a recent report of unusual importance con-

131

A Symbol of Safety

cerns a heating device that is coming into widespread use,
namely, the "pipeless" furnace. The use of this single
register furnace is practicable only in houses that have
large and permanent openings between floors and between
rooms, a form of construction which is not encouraged by
insurance men because it permits the easy spread of flames.
However, such houses are very numerous, they are not
likely soon to be legislated out of existence, and they can
be heated economically by pipeless furnaces. Therefore,
the problem of the Laboratories was practical, not aca-
demic; it was that of making sure that these heating
devices were rendered as free as possible from hazardous
features. The tests included the following features:

Design and Construction (form and arrangement of
parts, suitability of materials, workmanship).

Practicability (of packing and shipping, of installation,
of operation and of maintenance).

Durability (wear and tear, rough usage, corrosion).

Strength (of parts and of the furnace).

Uniformity (of parts and of the furnace as manufactur-
ed); and also this particular item:

Fire Hazard (radiation of heat, conduction of heat, com-
bustible sweepings and rubbish, combustible materials
over registers and failure of fire pot).

The fire hazard tests were conducted under conditions

representing a dwelling house, in which the basement and

first floor were arranged as in most installations. A num-

132

A Department that Outgreiv Its Name

ber of thermometers were placed at various points and
readings were taken at intervals. The temperature di-
rectly over the center of the hot-air outlet was found to be
a little over 300 deg. F. This prompted the question
as to what would happen to combustible materials if
these were to obstruct the register? Therefore a severe
test was arranged by covering the register with heavy
burlap representing a carpet or rug. By means of a
specially hot fire with a wide-open damper, the burlap was
ignited in the middle in forty minutes, but its burning
developed a strong odor that was taken into consideration
as one of the safety factors of the test, it being assumed
that it would furnish warning of danger to the people in
the house. Such conditions, of course, represented an
abuse of the furnace that could not occur with reasonable
precaution, therefore this ignition did not result in the
withholding of a classification label.

Further tests included the placing of light cloths on the
register, the throwing of sawdust and particles of paper
and rags into the cold air inlet and the warm air outlet
(to represent a lazy maid's disposal of sweepings), the
placing of excelsior and rags in contact with the furnace,
and the covering of the entire register with sheet iron.
None of these developed results of special hazard and the
furnace was finally listed by the Laboratories, but with
official notice that the installation must be made by the
manufacturers' trained agents and must be approved

^^33

A Symbol of Safety ^

by inspection departments having jurisdiction in the i
locaHty.

Such tests have little relation to the original purpose of
the department — that of dealing with hazardous sub-
stances— but are a natural outgrowth of its work with
mechanisms and are another illustration of the way in
which questions of safeguarding from hazards, in the
widest variety, drift inevitably to the one institution that is
definitely associated with study of this kind.

134

CHAPTER TWELVE

The Study of Chemical Problems
I. The Department of Chemistry

THE World War forced the subject of Chemistry
on the attention of millions of people to whom that
word previously had been merely a learned-
sounding term. Of course all previous use of explosives
had been based upon chemical laws, but when despatches
from the seat of war began to carry references to "chlor-
ine," "phosgene," "mustard," "tear gas" and the like,
the public mind commenced to perceive the existence of a
realm of unfamiliar phenomena that were likely to have
an important influence on the political destiny of the
world. Today, it is the general opinion of authorities
that future wars, if such must be, will partake largely of a
chemical nature, and many seriously question whether
civilization would be able to survive the immense destruc-
tion of life and property which would result.

Fortunately, chemical knowledge has application to the
arts of peace in ways that are even more diverse and ex-
tensive. In industry and in agriculture, for example, it is
being applied in a manner that is almost revolutionary.
Newer developments along synthetic lines suggest possi-

135

A Symbol of Safety

bllitles of future achievements that are staggering in their
scope. Even the accomplishments of the past few years
have added extraordinarily to the resources of humanity.
Thus chemistry, instead of being an academic study, is
more and more coming to be discussed in terms of industry,
economics and human safety.

For such reasons there is nothing merely speculative
about the Chemistry Department on East Ohio Street.
It is one of the most intensely practical branches of the
whole institution. In general, its work may be sub-divided
under four heads: first, tests of materials used in the
construction of certain products offered for labels; second,
investigations as to the properties of various "hazardous flj
substances"; third, certain lines of general research for
the purpose of gathering fundamental data without ■
which the business of insurance is more or less a matter of
gambling; and, fourth, a few mechanical processes not
strictly to be defined as chemical, but relating to products
with which the Chemistry Department is concerned.

This department is in fact in constant cooperation
with the others, and, as is inevitable, there are certain
overlapping points. For example, the Electrical Depart-
ment can run tests on steel-clad copper conductors as to
conductivity, but when these conductors are buried in
the ground corrosion is a factor that must be taken into
consideration. > Corrosion, being a chemical process, can

be dealt with only by the Department of Chemistry.

136

The Study of Chemical Problems

2. Tests of Hose and Wire

It may seem strange to say that two of the largest
concerns of the Department of Chemistry are fire hose
and insulated wire, but it illustrates the fact that chemical
tests enter vitally into many subjects that at first do not
appear to be chemical.

The need for testing fire hose was the original reason
for the organization of the department, for, as was shown
in the chapter on fire-fighting equipment, the deterioration
of hose is an ever-present danger. Standard fire hose
is lined with rubber but the grades of rubber and of sub-
stances masquerading as rubber are many and their
differences are not always apparent to the eye. In
order to judge of durability, it is necessary to ask such
questions as: What is the percentage of its acetone
extract? of its chloroform extract? of its alcoholic potash
extract? and of its ash and sulphur content? Such ques-
tions can be answered by chemistry and therefore a
department of chemistry was seen to be essential. Once
established, its usefulness was so great, that it quickly
grew into a wide range of operation. All work on fire
hose is done by this department, which conducts even
the physical and hydraulic tests. It goes into a study of
the cotton jacket of rubber-lined hose and the linen fabric
of unlined hose. It tests the yarns and the weave, it
determines "air dry" and "bone dry" weights and does

137

A Symbol of Safety

various other necessary things that are too technical for
discussion in these pages. It even puts the fibers of
which the yarns are made under the microscope and learns
important facts invisible to the unaided eye. Incidental-
ly, it may be said that the American Society for Testing
Materials has adopted Underwriters* Laboratories' stand-
ards for fire hose.

In the chapter on electricity something has already
been said on the subject of rubber-covered wire and this,
while it constitutes one of the important activities of the
Chemistry Department, need not here come in for dis-
cussion, except to say that the tests have reached a point
of efficiency where this product is now labeled at the ex-
tremely low figure oi seven-tenths of a cent for each hundred-
foot length. This is a striking example of the Laboratories'
claim that the cost of labeling products need not add to
their selling price.

Closely related to this subject of wire is that of conduits,
which also comes in for considerable attention by the
Department. Steel conduit is by far the most popular,
three hundred million feet of it being labeled in one year.
It must, of course, be rust-proofed, and whether this is
achieved by enameling or coating with zinc, it involves
chemistry. For instance, there are many ways of applying
the zinc — sherardizing, hot-dipping, electro-plating with
or without copper sub-coat, etc. The Chemistry De-
partment is constantly running check tests on samples

138

GENERAL ANALYTICAL LABORATORY

Both of these chemists are investigating rubber compounds used in fire h«f^ f ^ rubber-covered^^^

insulation. The one m the foreground is engaged m fi tration and is pouring a « '^.^'O" f/°j^^3j^*^^^

into one of a row of filters in the rack, while the chemist in the background is placing rubber samples

in an electric oven in order tc make a determination of their ash content

PREPARING RUBBER SPECIMENS FOR TESTS

The assistant in the foreground has a small rubber sample taken from the lining of a fire hose and is
removing the cement backing in a buffing machine, after which it will be tested for its tensile strength.
The assistant in the background is feeding another sample of rubber, also taken from the lining of the
fire hose, into a grinding mill. The ground rubber is to be given chemical tests. The mill is equipped
with a safety device and will stop automatically in case the operator is in danger of having his

hand drawn between the rolls

The Study of Chemical Problems

from the numerous factories, as this work involves deHcate
determinations which cannot be left to the factory in-
spectors and the ordinary factory testing apparatus.
Moreover, it was the Chemistry Department which had
to devise the tests and draw up the procedures. An in-
teresting instance of its work with regard to conduit
was the settlement once for all of the "least amount of
zinc" question which had for years kept tongues and
pens busy among trade bodies, government bureaus,
engineering and scientific societies, insurance circles, etc.
Another was the equally final ending of great discus-
sions as to whether or not it was advisable to give the
conduit a copper subcoat before plating the zinc by
electrolysis.

J. Miscellaneous Activities

The omnipresent match has been called "the most
valuable and the most dangerous article made by man;
it is the starting point of nearly all intentional fires and of
most unintended ones as well. Since, as has been said,
"every box of matches carries ^/y potential conflagrations
within its walls," and since five hundred thousand matches
are struck every minute on the average, in the United
States alone, it is important to see that they are surrounded
by safeguards. Consequently, the testing of matches was
taken up by the Chemistry Department and standards
were established for "strike-on-box" and "strike-any-

139

A Symbol of Safety

where" matches which are designated as "Class A"
and "Class B," respectively.

It is interesting to see miniature pile-drivers, only a
few inches high, drop their tiny weights on match heads
in determining the force of a blow required to ignite
them, and to watch the operation of little machines for
testing the strength of the wooden splints, or of thermo-
metric apparatus for determining the heat ignition points
of the chemicals. There are other steps as well, for the
testing of even the lowly match is a complicated process.

"Strike-on-box" matches are required to have heads
made of a chemical compound which is stable, whose
heat ignition point is above 340 deg. F. with low suscepti-
bility to ignition by shock, and with the explosive character
and the "fly hazard" during combustion reduced "so far as
is at present practicable for this type of match." The
sticks must be of specified dimensions, strength, uni-
formity, and must be treated chemically to prevent
"afterglow".

"Strike anywhere" matches call for even greater pre-
cautions and must be especially well safeguarded against
ignition by shock. The public is already acquainted with
the large-lettered words "Inert Bulb, Protected Tip"
on safe strike-anywhere matches; it is the result of the
Chemical Department's work.

Before leaving the subject of matches it may be interest-
ing to note that Laboratories' inspectors at the factories

140

The Study of Chemical Problems

producing labeled matches fill out report blanks having
spaces for over two hundred answers to the "mere routine"
questions. No wonder that all matches used in America,
whether labeled or unlabeled, are becoming safer.

Another concern of the Department of Chemistry is
the subject of composition roofings. Backed by vigorous
advertising and selling campaigns and aided by the re-
quirements of the building codes in many communities,
thousands of acres of such roofings are sold every year
in the United States. They are generally claimed to be
"safe from danger from sparks or flying brands," and
it is important that the public find out to what extent
such statements are true. Therefore, the Laboratories
conducts the fire tests already referred to under building
materials, but this alone is not sufficient, for the combina-
tions of materials must pass through the tests of the
Department of Chemistry. These tests throw light upon
the question of durability and fire hazard.

Then there are the invisible products — the commercial
gases — which now are being marketed in thousands of
metal cylinders and find an increasing use in industry.
These gases involve hazards which the Chemistry De-
partment is called upon to study. For example, oxygen
and hydrogen commonly are produced by sending a cur-
rent of electricity through water, whereupon the water
molecule is broken up and the component gases are freed.

They are, however, ready to unite again with violence,

141

A Symbol of Safety

under certain conditions which must be guarded against.
For this reason it is important that they be kept separate,
but the process of electrolysis makes it difficult to secure
either gas free from some slight percentage of the other.
If this percentage be small enough it involves no par-
ticular danger, but if the proportion of mixture be some-
what increased there is a possibility of explosion.

In this field, the Laboratories has been of great service
to manufacturers by determining the explosive ranges and
laying down standards which cover not only the purity
of the products but safety features in the processes of
production. This was done at the request of the manu-
facturers themselves^ after some unfortunate accidents at
their plants. Close cooperation with the industry is
maintained through its official body, the Gas Products
Association. With regard to safety features, engineers
from the Laboratories' Casualty Department have co-
operated with the chemists. The Inspection Service for
these plants began in 191 9, and is now applied in plants
situated in no less than eighteen states. Human safety,
therefore, at many points depends upon exact knowledge
as to such proportions and other conditions of hazard.

One of these other conditions has to do with pressure.
It is well known that gases which may be comparatively
inert at air pressure become difficult to deal with when
compressed sufficiently for storage in cylinders. What,
then, is the range of safety under compression.''

142

WHEN WILL A MATCH TAKE FIRE THROUGH HEAT ALONE?

The answer to this question will make it possible to guard against thousands of unnecessary fires. In
this apparatus, the matches are placed in a specially designed holder m contact with the bulb of a
thermometer, and enclosed in a test tube. This tube in turn is immersed in an oil bath heated by a
gas burner. As the temperature rises, the matches finally burst into (lame, and the ignition point as
shown by the thermometer is carefully recorded

ANALYZING GASES

If commercial oxygen contains more than a small percentage of hydrogen admixture its handling
and use are dangerous. With the Haldane apparatus here shown a chemist is seen making a determi-
naUonorthe proportion of these gases present in the sample The picture also ^hows a Moorehead ap-
paratus for determining such constituents as carbon dioxide, illummants, oxygen, carbon monoxide,
hydrogen and methane in furnace, fuel and illuminating gases. This scene shews a corner of the room
devoted to gas analysis and containing other interesting apparatus

The Study of Chemical Problems

One important series of tests conducted by the Depart-
ment of Chemistry in order to answer this and other
questions is thought to be the most elaborate ever made.
It required hundred9 of pieces of specially designed ap-
paratus and dealt with mixtures of hydrogen and air,
ethyl and methyl chloride and air, ordinary gasolene and
air, "casinghead," or so-called "wild" gasolene and air,
natural gas and air, and similar gases.

Because of the immense pressures developed in the
various experiments — pressures sufficient to hurl a loco-
motive through the air — special appliances had to be
designed. One, a nickel steel bomb built out of navy armor
plate at the Bethlehem steel works, weighs so much,
although the gas chamber is only 4x8 inches, that it was
necessary to install a special hoist to handle the cover alone.

The problem of photographing explosion flashes travel-
ing at a speed of 20,000 feet a second required the develop-
ment of special photographic films, as no existing film was
sensitive enough to record light traveling at such tre-
mendous speed.

The explosion chamber for the photographic tests is a
steel tube four inches in inside diameter and ten feet
long, surrounded by very thick hardened steel walls.
At either end, a narrow slit, two inches long, is covered
with a thick quartzite lens, communicating with a peri-
scope attachment, which, in turn, conveys the light to
specially built cameras.

143

A Symbol of Safety

The backs of the cameras, placed opposite each other,
are formed by a motor-driven cylinder, two feet in dia-
meter, driven at a speed of 1,700 revolutions a minute.
Around the cylinder is wound the photographic film,
which passes before the cameras at a speed of approxi-
mately two miles a minute.

In action, the explosion flash, as it becomes visible at
the nearest edge of the slit in the steel cylinder, is re-
flected on one edge of the film. As it travels across the
slit it prints a corresponding line across the film, at an
angle, due to the speed at which the film revolves. A
corresponding photograph is made when the flash passes
the slit in the other end of the tube ten feet away.

By measuring the angles of the two photographs and
knowing the speed of the film, it becomes possible to
calculate the speed of the flash. The result shows how
rapidly and how far fire caused by an explosion of the
gas under test will spread in a factory building.

In the manufacture of safes, the space between the
outer and inner shells is filled with some sort of com-
position to resist heat. This insulation may remain hidden
away for a generation or more, until some day a severe
fire determines whether or not it is faithful to its trust.

The Laboratories' fire tests of safes described in the next

chapter show the heat resistance of this insulating material

when it is new, but the Department of Chemistry, by

thorough studies of the composition, is able to judge as to

144

The Study of Chemical Problems

the permanence of its value. Chemical tests also in-
dicate whether explosive gases are likely to be developed
within the safe from great heat. There have been many
cases in which safe doors have been blown open during a
fire from this cause, with, of course, the ruin of contents.

Spontaneous combustion, or, more properly, spontaneous
ignition^ is the real cause of so many mysterious fires, that
precautions are of great importance. Even the fire loss
that is definitely traced to this cause averages more than
$1,000,000 a month in the United States.

Consequently, the Department of Chemistry is con-
stantly called upon to deal with the liability of various
materials and compounds to burst into flame under certain
conditions. Sometimes this study has unexpected results.
Few things could seem more free from fire menace than
the thin red skins that cover the meats of peanuts, and
yet, in all seriousness. Underwriters' Laboratories made
a scientific investigation to learn whether these peanut
skins held danger of spontaneous ignition. Moreover,
it found that they did. To the layman this might sound
like testing run mad, yet it was intensely practical, as is
all the work done by the institution.

It happens that peanut meats are extensively used by
candy manufacturers and that the preparation of these
meats has become an industrial process. This includes
freeing them from the skins, which thus accumulate in
considerable quantities.

145

A Symbol of Safety

A fire in Virginia was believed to have arisen from the
spontaneous ignition of these skins and a bag of them was
sent to the Laboratories for investigation. Here it was
quickly determined that the fragments of meat adhering '
to many skins contained a considerable percentage of oil;
this, in view of the fact that the curling skins packed
loosely (thus being surrounded by oxygen) constituted
a recognizable fire hazard.

Other items of interest among many include investi-
gations of foam fire-extinguishing compounds, of proc-
esses of coating metal to prevent corrosion, of processes
for flame-proofing excelsior, of flame arrestors for safe-
guarding motors used in ether anesthetic apparatus,
of the explosibility of wood flour, of the heat expansion of
gasolene, and of the hazards of portable fuel for industrial
and domestic use.

An example of the last-named concerned the new and
growing industry of producing ** solidified alcohol" or
"canned heat".

Of the various makes, one was submitted by its manu-
facturers with the claim that it was less hazardous than
others because it maintained its solid form while burning ^
or when subjected to the temperature of hot climates.
The most obvious test was to light a can and overturn it on
a wooden floor in order to see what would happen. But Lab-
oratories' approval is never given so easily, and the prod-
uct was put through various chemical and practical tests.

146

LEARNING ABOUT THE "FLASH POINT"

What are the exact temperatures at which certain oils and asphaltic compounds used in roofing will
flash into flame? This is being determined in the test here 7)ictured. On the bench, from left to right,
are a Pensky-Martens closed cup tester, a Tycos Standard U. S. Bureau of Mines flash point tester and

a Tagliabue closed cup tester

PREPARING AN EXPLOSIVE VAPO-AIR MIXTURE

One of the imix>rtant studies of the Department of Chemistry has had to do with the propagation of
flame in pipes. Disasters have been caused by the swift passage of flame through the connections
between tanks of explosive gases. In order to devise effective flame arresters, it has been necessary to
study the conditions existing in such pipes. This picture shows a chemist adjusting a carburetor on an
apparatus for obtaining explosive mixtures of air and various vapors

MAKING MICRO-PHOTOGRAPHS

One of the important means for determining the character of metal used in certain tested products
is that of polishing and etching the surface of a specimen and then making a greatly enlarged photograph
of its micro-structure by means of the apparatus here shown. Small differences, invisible to the
naked eye, may have an important bearing on the behavior of the metal under conditions of use

The Study of Chemical Problems

For example, would it become volatile on a very hot
day in the tropics? This was answered by evaporating
it to dryness at 65 deg. C. (149 deg. F.) in an electric
oven and then using the iodoform reaction to determine the
volatile ingredient.

Another analysis identified the non-volatile ingredient,
and then some of the fuel was burned in a crucible to
learn of its ash content. The chemists now knew all about
the substance and could give it a fire rating, but this was
not enough, because it is sold in cans, and must be con-
sidered in that form. Therefore burning cans were upset
to see whether there would be any spilling of flaming
liquid, the fire was blown upon by strong air currents
to note the result, the heat radiation was studied to see
whether it would endanger combustible material that
might stand near by, and many other tests of a more
technical nature were made before the exacting chemists
finally decided in favor of listing the product.

4. Special Investigations

More than most of the other departments, the De-
partment of Chemistry is occasionally called upon to
undertake lines of special research of a purely scientific
nature. An example of this kind was that dealing with
"the propagation of flame in pipes and the eff"ectiveness
of arrestors. " Here, certainly, is technical language that
suggests little to the lay reader, and yet the lengthy report

147

A Symbol of Safety

that IS covered was the result of some really dangerous
experiments and had a direct bearing on human
safety.

It had become important to learn just what happens
when mixures of air and various vapors explode in tanks
and pipes and just how the explosion flames can be inter-
cepted without stoppage of the pipes. This investigation
was begun during the World War at the instance of the
du Pont Company and the report was made in October.
1919. It dealt with some factors that were mysterious
subjects, even to scientists, and required a formidable
equipment of apparatus, such as bombs and other pres-
sure-proof containers, air tank apparatus, mixing appara-
tus, freezing apparatus, sampling devices, ignition systems,
composition apparatus, chronographs, manographs, in-
dicators, gas analysis apparatus and many others. Some
of these devices it was necessary to design especially for
the experiment. The investigation resulted in a mass of
clearly presented information of great value to many
industries. The effectiveness of various types of flame
arrestors was reported upon for the first time.

Another important investigation has had to do with
the so-called "Table of Constants" bearing on thirty-eight
oils, ethers, alcohols and other such liquids having hazard-
ous properties. The work of insurance men and even of
government regulators must involve more or less guess-
work at various points without such information. This

148

The Study of Chemical Problems

table has not yet been completed but even at its present
stage has proved of great value.

There is no room here for even a list of the numerous
other special investigations which have been made by the
Chemistry Department. All of them resulted in the ac-
cumulation of valuable information — sometimes valuable
to a single industry, as in the case of the spontaneous igni-
tion hazard of sisal, that Mexican plant whose fibers are
used in manufacturing cordage and bagging; sometimes to
agriculture, as in the case of hazardous compounds for
killing weevil in grain, and sometimes to the general
public, as in the case of extinguisher liquids.

Extinguisher liquids of the carbon tetrachloride class
have many advantages, not the least of which is that
they do not conduct electricity. It had long been noticed
that when applied to fire they formed certain gases, and
the Laboratories' chemists conducted thorough investi-
gations to determine the nature of the fumes, their cor-
rosive action on metals, the toxic compounds so formed,
etc. It was ascertained that while poisonous gases were
generated, their volume was so small as to render the
extinguishers safe for use except in small confined spaces
such as closets. As a matter of fact, everyone who has
studied chemistry has breathed some of these gases, and
been none the worse; but the war had made the public
fearful on the subject, and it was at the instance of the

National Board of Fire Underwriters and the National

149

A Symbol of Safety

Fire Protection Association that the Laboratories conduct-
ed the experiments and made the thorough report.

From the foregoing it may be seen that the work of the
Chemical Department at 207 East Ohio Street is strikingly
unlike that of chemical laboratories established elsewhere.
Indeed, it is much more than a chemical laboratory, for
statics and dynamics, metallurgy and metallography,
thermodynamics and pneumatics, hygroscopy, electrical
engineering and various other branches of science, as well
as organic and mineral chemistry, are drawn upon; a
visitor may even find one of the engineers engaged in
work that verges upon the field of botany as, for instance,
in the identification of the linen fibers in fire hose. While,
therefore, it is rigid in its standardization of procedure,
the attainment by clients of the objects laid down does not
depend on chemical conformity but on performance.

Finally, it affects a greater number and variety of in-
dustries than any other single laboratory, and the effect
of its activities is fully recognized throughout large fields
of production.

150

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

How Safes Are Made Safe

T. An Emergency Article

^ LITTLE more than a decade ago manufacturers of
/_% safes began to submit their products to the
-^ •^' Laboratories for official labeling.

Safes presented a problem very different from those
discussed in the preceding sections because their use
involved no natural or inherent hazard, and they were
not associated either with fire prevention or with fire
fighting. On the contrary, the very purchase of a safe
implied a recognition of the fact that fire might occur in
the premises where it was to be installed, and the safe's
principal duty was that of protecting its contents from
destruction, no matter how severe this fire might prove
to be.

The day has been when safes were considered chiefly
in the light of burglar resistance. This function is not
negligible even yet, and all safes must furnish some degree
of protection against marauders, but modern business
methods have more and more tended to the use of boxes
in safe deposit vaults for convertible securities, leaving
to the office safe the task of protecting business documents

151

A Symbol of Safety

and records that are needed for immediate access. These
things do not tempt the burglar; their particular peril
comes from the fact that they are made of paper.

When fire destroys such material it sometimes cripples
a business more seriously than by the destruction of its
stock in trade. Consequently the old-fashioned type of
massive safe with its ponderous doors, its heavy bolts, its
cash drawer and its ledger compartments, while still
enjoying a field of service, has been followed by various
sizes and types of containers, housing card and "loose-
leaf" records of many kinds and designed for the par-
ticular purpose of keeping their interior temperature al-
ways below the scorching point. Such containers are
now to be found by the tens of thousands in business places
throughout the country.

Business men have been educated by many sad experi-
ences to the realization that it is a serious mistake to
neglect precautions in the purchase of their safes. A
fire is a swift transformer of conditions. Premises that in
the morning have seemed free from all suggestion of haz-
ard may by afternoon develop into a raging furnace where-
in the safe, with its vital contents, is subjected to a heat
of a thousand degrees — of fifteen hundred degrees — even
occasionally of considerably more. By evening, walls
may fall and floors give way, so that the glowing metal
box crashes down from a height of several stories and is

perhaps buried under tons of debris.

152

How Safes Are Made Safe

Under such circumstances physical property of large
value may be annihilated, a fact that need not be fatal to
the business if its owner be sufficiently insured, but the
possibility of resuming operation may largely depend upon
the answer to one question: Are the contents of that buried
safe undamaged? It is with anxious heart that many a
business man has awaited the cooling of the ruins to a
point where his safe could be dug out and opened — often
a matter of days. \

The opening of the door has told an immediate story
of the temperature that penetrated to the safe's interior
while its outer walls were bathed in terrific heat. Some-
times the contents have been found reduced to charred
and useless fragments; sometimes they appear to have
suffered no damage. This latter is now being met with
in an increasing number of cases, a fact that is due in no
small degree to the Laboratories' classification tests.

The testing of safes is one of the most searching pro-
cedures that take place within the two brown brick walls
on East Ohio Street and it is one of the most important.
Two new safes standing side by side on an office floor tell
little to the layman. Both may have trim lines, roomy in-
teriors, convenient compartments, and neatly painted sur-
faces; both may render equal service during years of usual
routine. Then, one day, there comes the great emergency
for which supposedly both safes were created and one
triumphs, the other fails.

153

A Symbol of Safety

The possibility of severe fire must always be thought of
as existing in the background during every moment of the
safe's manufacture, sale, purchase and use. A safe is
essentially an emergency article; its real value stands or
falls on the single question of its ability to meet extraor-
dinary conditions. This ability must be known at the
time of purchase. It can be determined in but one way,
viz. : by subjecting the safe in advance to the emergency for
which it is created. A fire-safe container must have its
safety proved by fire. This, however, is not so simple as
it may sound.

2. Preliminary Inspection and the Explosion Test

The technical reader will find the Laboratories' Standard
for testing safes in Appendix XIII, but what is here
purposed is merely a brief impression of the actual
process.

In the case of all safe manufacturers, various confer- m
ences and discussions intervene between the time when
the drawings and factory specifications are submitted to
Underwriters' Laboratories and the first actual fire test
is made in Chicago.

In each instance the Laboratories' engineers study the
blueprints and descriptions, inspect the factory with
regard to methods of production and even look ahead
into the packing, shipping, handling, installation and
operation of the safes before a single one is built for formal

154

How Safes Are Made Safe

submission. Advice and suggestions are given in the light
of the manufacturer's statement of claims and the Labo-
ratories' standard. Following this test, sample safes
are built at the factories, under the personal supervision
of the Laboratories' engineers, and shipped to Chicago.
These must be exact duplicates of the safes which the
manufacturer intends to place on the market under the
label — in case he gets the label.

Ultimately, these test samples arrive at 207 East Ohio
Street, Chicago. The engineers begin by examining the
burlap and excelsior protection and the heavy paper
wrapping. The safes are moved with levers, lifted with
jacks, and otherwise handled by both skilled and unskilled
labor, to determine the extent to which they are affected by
such usage. The engineers closely examine the exterior
finish, especially at all joints, for evidence of racking or dis-
tortion. They then work the doors and locking mechanism
a number of times to determine how smoothly and easily
these can be manipulated. This is done with the safes
resting on all four wheels and then with two opposite
wheels raised by steel plates. Definite upward and down-
ward pressure is exerted on the opened doors and, in every
case, the examiners use dynamometers or other measuring
instruments, and little dabs of soft putty to note the ac-
curacy of the fits at door edges.

Such installation and operation tests have a direct
bearing upon the manufacturer's statement of claims as

A Symbol of Safety

to workmanship, suitability of materials, the form and
arrangement of parts, durability, rigidity, strength, uni-
formity and ease of handling, shipping and maintenance.

Following these preliminary tests, one of the samples
is put through Fire Test Number One, known as the "Ex-
plosion Test." This takes place in an open field.

Arriving there, the spectator sees the safe raised knee-
high on four brick piers and surrounded on three sides by an
eight-foot wooden fence. Magazines and loose papers
have been placed inside and on the top shelf stands a
recording thermometer. A camera is set up in front of
the opened safe and a photograph is taken of the contents.
The doors are closed. Once more the camera shutter
clicks. Then kindling wood and excelsior are placed under
and around the safe according to a standardized plan, an
eight-foot square section of fence is nailed across the front
so that the safe is completely enclosed, and additional
sticks and boards are thrust into the huge box, completely
covering the safe; in all, five thousand pounds of com-
bustibles are used. Finally, thirty gallons of kerosene
are poured over the whole and the match is applied.

The fuel has been so arranged as to produce the maxi-
mum of heat in the minimum of time, in order to represent
extreme conflagration conditions such as a fire in a
chemical factory or a lumber yard might give. Under
such conditions of swiftly mounting temperature safes have
been known to develop explosive interior gases; in some

156

How Safes Are Made Safe

cases, the doors have been thrown for many feet. There-
fore it is important to search out any such tendency.

In this test, the smoke clouds are quickly succeeded by
roaring flames, and, in less than three minutes, the tem-
perature exceeds a thousand degrees; five minutes later
it is fifteen hundred degrees and, in fifteen minutes from
"cold," it has reached seventeen hundred degrees.

The fire swiftly burns itself out and, at the end of half
an hour, the blackened safe can be seen perched above
glowing embers. The engineers allow another ten minutes
to pass, then play a hose over it and make a thorough
survey of the external condition, measuring the bulgings
of the plates with steel squares and other instruments.
A sufficient degree of bulging is rated as an ** explosion".

J*. The Endurance Test

Following the Explosion Test comes the still more im-
portant Fire Test Number Two, or the "Endurance Test".
Its main purpose is to permit the classification of safes
according to the length of exposure to a standard fire
(note the word "standard") which they are able to endure
before their interior temperature reaches three hundred
degrees — a temperature obtainable in a kitchen oven, and
one that will not injure paper.

Four classifications are recognized and certified by
labels, as follows:

"Class A," indicating a safe that will protect its con-

157

A Symbol of Safety

tents against a fire of extraordinary severity — four hours
of furnace heat with the interior temperature rising at
the standard rate (again note the word "standard") but
without the interior temperature reaching 300 degrees,
without explosion and without the development of
certain weakness specified in the Standard; "Class B,"
calling for the same requirements in a two-hour test;
"Class C," calling for the same requirements in a one-
hour test. The fourth class is designated as "Insulated
Cabinet," in which the label stands for a test of forty-
five minutes. In each of these cases the temperature read-
ings continue into the so-called "cooling period" that fol-
lows the period of actual exposure to flame.

Another important requirement is that all classes of
safes bearing the Laboratories' label must withstand the
Fire and Impact Test, to be described later. This does
not apply to the "insulated cabinets" which, while by
no means weak mechanically, are designed for less severe
conditions, such as use in fire-resistive buildings with
few burnable contents, where there is little danger of
floors giving way.

It may be of interest to go into Building Number
Three and take a close-up of the Endurance Test.

The furnace itself is a box of thick masonry, and is
heated by four rows of blast burners. On the outside of
the walls are valves, through which it is possible to control
the distribution and intensity of the fire.

158

READING FURNACE TEMPERATURES

Far from the heat and roar of the furnace room in Building Number Three is this Temperature Reading
Station, to which the electric wires from furnace thermo-couples are connected. Through selector
switches a number of readings can ix taken in quick succession. This view shows three engineers watch-
ing the rising temperatures "felt" by six thermo-couples around a safe and by four more inside it

' CALIBRATING THERMO-COUPLES

The thermo-couple is a kind of electrical super-thermometer employed for the measurement of very high
temperatures. Its accuracy is determined by a "calibration"; in other words, its readings are checked
against a standard couple by means of a recording device. This recording device bears the formidable

name of "potentiometer"

How Safes Are Made Safe

The safe to be tested is brought in and prepared for
its ordeal by the placing of interior thermo-couples to in-
dicate the heat that develops within the safe. These are
arranged next to the middle joint of the double doors and
in the upper corners, points where there is likely to be the
first penetration of heat. Then a hole is drilled through
the safe's bottom for the insertion of a closely-fitting
pipe through which the thermo-couple wires may be led to
the indicating instruments and, lastly, two small copper
tubes also are passed through the bottom of the safe.
These are to enable taking of interior air samples during
the test for analysis in the chemical laboratory to de-
termine the nature and quantity of the gases generated
under the heat. This has a particular bearing on the
question of explosion hazard.

The safe is then pushed into the furnace, but before
its doors are closed, a number of magazines, blueprints,
index cards and loose papers are placed on its shelves,
a proceeding easily understood by the non-technical
spectator. Following this, the furnace is closed and
sealed and the test is begun.

"Go!" commands the engineer in charge; the gas is
turned on and the burners are lighted.

Before long, the mica peepholes in all four walls of
the furnace begin to glow and through them the surface of
the safe may be seen to blister as the paint burns.

As the minutes pass, the assistant engineer goes from

159

A Symbol of Safety

one peephole to another, peering keenly through and
making notes of his observations. Every few seconds a
voice is raised in mysterious phrases such as: "A little
high in the North. . . . Low in the East. ..."

It is the man at the speaking tube, repeating instruc-
tions received by him from the engineer at the tempera-
ture measuring station in the next room to which the
thermo-couple wires lead. With every message the proper
adjustments are made of valves on the four walls of the
furnace. This is a matter of utmost importance; it is
related to the fact that this test follows the Standard
Time Temperature Control Curve in which the heat must
increase at a predetermined and controlled rate. Thus
it is possible to secure absolute uniformity in the tests and
to place all makes of safes on a basis of rigid impartiahty.
Any deviation in temperature is shown at once on the
switchboard instruments and is corrected by manipulat-
ing the valves.

After twenty minutes it may be observed through a peep-
hole at the back of the furnace that the large sheet of steel
forming the back of the safe begins to show visible distor-
tion. This is a natural condition.

Thirty minutes. The attention of several visitors is
called by the assistant engineer to tiny spurts of flame
issuing from joints in the safe from the generation of
gases within the insulation. It is indicative of good
design that they can escape without doing any damage.

1 60

How Safes Are Made Safe

Forty minutes; the steel knob of the combination lock
is a brilliant red — almost white hot.

One hour, and the entire visible surface of the safe has
become a brilliant red.

The safe having been submitted for Class A label, is
subjected to an inferno of ever-increasing intensity for
three hours longer, but at the end of the four hours the
heat of the interior thermo-couples as indicated on the
switchboard must not be sufficient to injure the inost deli-
cate papers on the shelves.

The engineer continues to take readings, because the
furnace remains closed for about twenty hours, until it and
the safe have become cool enough to be handled. This
feature of the endurance test represents actual conditions
in the most severe fires. The inside temperature con-
tinues to rise slightly for a while before slowly descending.
Should even one of the interior thermo-couples register
three hundred degrees, though the three others were much
cooler, the safe would not get the label.

4. The Fire and Impact Test

Even more spectacular than the explosion test is the
ordeal which safes of Classes A, B and C must undergo,
and which is known as the Fire and Impact Test, or simply
as the "drop test". A safe is heated one hour, hoisted
thirty feet and dropped, allowed to cool, turned upside
down and again heated one hour, allowed to cool inside

161

A Symbol of Safety

the closed furnace, and then forced open to see whether
the contents were injured. This is a test not only of
fire-resistance but also of strength, workmanship, skillful
design and correct use of materials.

If a spectator were to arrive at the furnace room
toward the end of the first heat, he would see the following
procedure:

Fifty-five minutes. Eight men in overalls stand by at
their stations like trained gun crews. Blocks and tackles
are all set to open the wall-door of the furnace and to roll
out the bottom truck on which rests the red-hot safe.

Fifty-nine minutes. The engineer at the instruments
inside the other building takes a last reading of tempera-
tures, jots them down and puts his mouth to the speak-
ing tube:

"Ready!" he calls.

** Ready!" is the answer.

Two asbestos-gloved men disconnect the thermo-couples
and withdraw them white hot from the furnace wall holes.

"Ten seconds ! " shouts an engineer. No one moves, be-
cause everyone is ready,
l^ive!

A man grasps the lever of the quick-shutting main
valve.

"GO!"

The flames go out with a pop. There is a thud as a man
rams a timber against the door prop, which is immediately

162

HOT WORK

"VVho said this was a light-weight safe?" ask the Plant Department workers as they withdraw a red-hot
safe from the furnace preparatory to the Drop Test. In a few seconds they will pass a chain sling around
It so that it may be hoisted and dropped while still hot. The safe contains magazines, index cards, loose
papers, and even photographic prints, all of which must remain uninjured if the safe is to receive official

recognition by the Lalioratories

ABOUT TO BE DROPPED

Safes undergo a terrific ordeal before receiving the coveted label of the Laboratories. This one has
just been heated to a glowing red by a one-hour exposure in a gas-hred furnace, and will now be droppea
on the pile of bricks from a height of thirty feet. The next day it will be subjected to another hour ol
inferno, then left to cool slowly, and finally opened to make sure that papers inside it have not been
charred in spite of these severe trials -i

How Safes Are Made Safe

caught by another. The heavy door opens, causing all
spectators to retreat from the burst of radiation. Work-
men, crouching to protect their faces from the heat,
quickly hook the wheeled truck on which rests the red-hot
safe and draw it forth, then sling it with a special arrange-
ment of chains and bars. This is done as the safe passes
through the large door of Building Number Three near
which the furnace is situated. Within a few moments
the glowing safe is in the yard beneath a high derrick boom,
to a cable from which the chains are swiftly attached.

The hoist motor hums, the steel cables tighten, the
pulley creaks and the safe rises into the air. Meanwhile
the derrick boom from which it hangs swings through a
quadrant until the safe is plumb above a massive concrete
block set flush with the flooring of the yard and covered
with a heap of loose bricks.

From one of the bars of the sling that holds the safe
dangles a thirty-foot chain weighted with a chunk of iron.
The moment it straightens, a man yanks a rope freeing the
trip hook of the chain sling.

Down comes the safe whizzing from the height of a
fourth-floor window and landing with a crash on the pile
of bricks. The bricks being purposely uneven to repre-
sent the chaotic debris of a real fire, the safe has not fallen
squarely and one corner is seen to be badly distorted,
showing the white insulation through the torn plates.

When the safe has cooled, examinations are made as

163

A Symbol of Safety

to its stability and strength; engineers look for bulgings
and separations affecting the tightness of door joints and
other features. Allowing for the force of the drop, any
bending, breakage or collapse showing lack of requisite
strength would be counted against the safe, in considering
the award of the coveted label.

The next day the safe is placed upside down on the fur-
nace truck and again subjected to the flames for one hour.
The furnace conditions are standard — the temperature
rising to seventeen hundred degrees. An engineer watches
closely through the peepholes for any sign of buckling,
sagging, warping, collapse, fusion, disintegration and so
on. One thinks of the effects of the thirty-foot fall while
the safe's outer shell was red hot.

The third day the furnace is opened, revealing the
battered safe, which is rolled out and examined by trained
eyes but, of course, the most interesting moment comes
when the doors are forced open. Are the contents safely
preserved? Are all papers still fresh, white and pliable?

They are, but even this does not satisfy the engineers,
who examine the condition of the paint and enamel on
the inside, especially near the joints, and the condition
of every feature. Then an autopsy is performed; work-
men take the safe apart, dissecting it as a coroner would a
corpse. Samples of steel and insulating material are
taken from various points and subjected to chemical
and physical tests. Nothing is overlooked.

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How Safes Are Made Safe

This dissection of safes is performed after all fire
tests, not only on the Class A, B and C safes, but also on
the "Insulated Cabinet" label safes.

From the foregoing it is apparent that with safes, as
with every other product inspected and tested by the
Laboratories, a definite plan of investigation is followed
with a view to obtaining exact and significant information;
this includes examinations of materials; explosion test,
drop test and endurance test. The whole plan is clear
and simple and its headings are as follows:

Practicability — of handling and shipping; of installa-
tion; of operation; of maintenance.

Durability — wear and tear; sweating and swelling;
corrosion.

Strength — of part; of assembled safes.

Fire Resistance — flame resistance; heat resistance.

Uniformity — of parts; of assembled safes.

These few lines stand for many hours of intense
research work, into which we have given only a few
glimpses.

Then follows the Report to Council as elsewhere de-
scribed (page 267).

5. The Follow-up Work

When the votes of the Fire Council members have
been found to be favorable, the safe in question is awarded
its classification label, and the manufacturing company

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A Symbol of Safety

now comes under the supervision of the Label Service
Department with its inspectors.

The Laboratories* follow-up work on safes, assuring the
strict maintenance of quality, is extremely detailed, pains-
taking, comprehensive and severe. For that matter the
inspection work on fifteen thousand other products is
all these things; but it is remarkable how many different
items a Laboratories' factory inspector looks for in such
an apparently simple device as a safe. For example,
in the matter of insulation, the inspector must check up
on the materials in order to make certain that they comply
with specifications. This involves tracing shipments and
forwarding samples to Chicago. He also examines a
number of safes at different stages of their manufacture,
and measures the thickness of the insulation in the
sides, top, bottom, and doors. He makes sure that the
insulating materials are disposed within the walls in the
manner specified for that particular make.

Close inspections are made of hinges, bolting mechanism,
locks and casters, as to their design, method of attach-
ment and other features; the finish of the metal parts, both
interior and exterior, is another item, and even the interior
fittings are carefully inspected. The important matter of
workmanship is not left entirely to the judgment of the
inspector, but under it there are mentioned specific items,
and the handbooks even prescribe the method by which

certain fits and clearances are to be determined.

i66

How Safes Are Made Safe

Inspectors* reports are all received at Chicago, where the
labeled safe manufacturing industry is thus followed up.
Inspectors are kept informed as to conditions that they
should know about. For instance, if a strike were to
occur in an industry upon which the office safe industry
is dependent for certain raw materials, all inspectors con-
cerned would immediately be notified to make sure that
the supply of these materials does not fall below the
required standard.

Once a year, and sometimes oftener, safes of each model
and make are purchased secretly in the open market and
shipped to Chicago for examinations and tests which are
just as complete as the original acceptance investigations
and tests. This is a final and positive countercheck on
the Laboratories' own factory Inspection work as well as
on the maintenance of standards by the industry.

These are some of the reasons why the little brass label
that denotes the results of these arduous and painstaking
processes is coming into general recognition as the one
means whereby the purchaser of safes may receive ad-
vance assurance as to their emergency qualities.

167

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Making Burglary More Difficult

I. Matching Wits with Burglars

IN THE winter of 1920-21 an epidemic of burglaries
in Chicago led to a conviction in the minds of many
that "something" must be done — something more
than the usual activities of police and law courts. The
burglars of Chicago, always enterprising and skilful,
were growing bolder. Clearly they were not deterred
by the relatively small chance of being sent to jail;
clearly, also, they were not efficiently resisted by the
thousands of locks and burglar alarms. These things
might have been good enough for an earlier day, but the
burglar's mind is acute, ingenious and enterprising; he
experiments, tries new ways, and tells his pals when
successful. Thus, knowledge accumulates, as in any other
learned profession, and stationary resistance methods can-
not long cope with advancing methods of attack.

By the winter of 1 920-21, as already stated, there had
grown up a conviction that another step must be taken,
and this took the form of requests from manufacturers
and insurance men that Underwriters' Laboratories as-
sume the writing of *' Standards" on various means of

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Making Burglary More Dijfficult

protection. Burglar alarm systems had been used for
about thirty years, but seemingly without much im-
provement in the average protection afforded. This
was due largely to the fact that prospective users were
at a loss in choosing from many equipments, because
there were no "standards" of design and construction
and no scientific discounts on burglary insurance rates.
The same thing was true with regard to vaults, safety
deposit boxes and locking devices.

This, indeed, was the crux of the difficulty. Inventive
brains had not been idle, new products were forthcoming
from time to time, representing various degrees of inge-
nuity and efficiency, and in each case enthusiastic manu-
facturers claimed, no doubt sincerely, that the problem of
burglar resistance had been solved; but how was one to be
sure until the product was tested by some skilful cracks-
man— and then it might be too late. The situation
cried aloud for the obtaining of exact information, for
tests to be made by the most highly proficient burglars,
at times and under conditions when property would not
be imperilled, with resulting classification of a thorough
and impartial nature. Proficient burglars, it found,
could not be trusted, hence, proficient "burglars" must
be developed out of men who could be trusted, and
their equipment must be equal to the finest at the com-
mand of the artists of the underworld.

The situation differed in one important respect from

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A Symbol of Safety

that of the fire protection investigations discussed in pre-
ceding chapters; it involved a contest, not with natural
forces, but with human ingenuity and daring. It was, in
short, a process of matching wits with burglars.

The first positive steps were taken when the Burglary
Insurance Underwriters' Association ruled that future in-
stallations would be recognized by reduced rates when
reported upon favorably by Underwriters' Laboratories,
and when manufacturers of protective devices met at the
Chicago and New York offices of the Laboratories in
May, 1 92 1, and pledged their support. At about the
same time there was formed the Burglary Protection
Council of the Laboratories, and the work was formally
inaugurated in September. By the end of 1921, no less
than forty-seven systems and devices had been submitted.
The Laboratories was fully prepared, having begun about
one year previously to develop a staff of experts in
burglary protection.

It was not long before engineers at both the Chicago
and New York testing stations astonished manufacturers
of supposedly impregnable systems by "burglarizing"
simulated business premises with apparent ease: They
had already found weak points. But that was not
enough, they suggested specific improvements, which
were adopted one by one. A number of confidential
reports of criticism written to manufacturers brought
back evidence that the industry was alert to profit by

170

Making Burglary More Difficult

the technical study given to its problems by Under-
writers' Laboratories.

It was quickly appreciated that even the most skilful
and determined burglar needs more than the cover of
darkness: He must have time to accomplish his design,
and security from knowledge of his presence. There-
fore the problem of burglary protection resolves itself
into two phases:

First. Prevention or interruption of the attack,
through immediate detection of the burglar's presence.

Second. Mechanical resistance to the attack.

These are the fundamentals of the investigations now
in constant progress.

The first phase involves the use of alarm systems, with
indicators, gongs, tell-tale lights, or other warnings supple-
mented in cases by the summoning of armed guards;
while the second calls for effective locks, bars, plates,
boxes, doors and vaults.

All this comes under the problem of protection against
the burglar, who is essentially a secret worker, but there
is also the necessity for defence in the case of armed day-
light bank and store robbers. Against the latter there
have been developed special protection systems, with
sounding devices to bring reinforcements from the street.
These may be considered under burglar-alarm systems,
with which they are often combined.

It is the function of Underwriters' Laboratories to de-

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A Symbol of Safety

termine the effectiveness of all such means of protection
as are submitted to it. The first group of devices and
systems must be absolutely reliable, for an alarm that
does not always work is worse than none at all. The
second group can never furnish absolute protection;
their value consists in the time required to defeat them,
and, in this group, the Laboratories determines the
degree of resistance offered.

In coping with the problem of protection from burglars,
first attention must be given to their prompt detection;
in other words, to the alarm system. If this be adequate
there may be no need for calling into play the burglar-
resistant qualities of the safe, strong box or other con-
tainer of valuables. Consequently it is recognized as
folly for banks, jewelry stores, and other places where
valuables are stored, to neglect this form of precaution.

Various are the methods adopted. Windows and doors
are wired; glass panes are decorated with tin-foil ribbon
apparently for ornament but really to carry an electric
current as part of the system of protection; window and
door openings are filled with wooden lattice work, so
wired as to send in an alarm at the least disturbance;
alarms are concealed under thresholds and floor rugs;
they are connected with show cases and vaults; they
find expression through horns, sirens, gongs and lights,
or in indicators at some central station; ingenious bur-
glar traps are thus spread every night in thousands of

172

Making Burglary More Difficult

business places, and in not a few residences as well.
No one realizes this better than does the cracksman.
If he is to succeed at his chosen calling he must keep
abreast of developments in the art of protection. Hence
the skilful operators of a generation ago became adept
at locating and cutting the electrical connections of these
alarms. To circumvent them the manufacturers there-
upon devised alarms in which the electric current was
continuous while in use, so that its interruption would
give warning. Burglars countered this by having bat-
teries which could be connected with the system in
order to continue the current while the main connection
was being broken, and the manufacturers thereupon pro-
duced alarms sufficiently delicate to register the effect
of a variation in the strength of the current such as
would be almost certain to occur between the regular
supply current and that of the portable battery.

Thus in various ways the contest has continued, and
while burglary is thus made difficult and often reaches
a capture, it still is successful in an amazingly large
number of cases. For this reason the wise merchant or
householder carries additional protection in the form of
burglary insurance and the problem thus becomes vital
to the insurance companies. Through them it logically
becomes a concern of Underwriters' Laboratories, for a
company in assuming risk must make sure that the pro-
tective systems in use are as efficient as they can be made.

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A Symbol oj Safety

2. Grading the Alarm Systems

It is natural that alarm systems should be of many
different kinds. One used to protect a bank vault may
cost as high as ^5,000 or ^10,000 and should be able to
last for a number of years without calling for repair —
especially as to its electric lining, which usually is em-
bedded in concrete walls. On the other hand, a mer-
cantile alarm system cannot be too costly, because small
establishments usually hope to outgrow their premises;
and also because the walls, floors, and doors and windows
of ordinary business premises are not sufficiently re-
sistant to warrant elaborate systems; that is to say, a
common burglar could quickly ''smash, grab and run"
whether the system were simple or elaborate. Another
consideration is that protective devices are frequently
portable and almost always exposed. Take-down screens
are sometimes placed in the way of porters who may
shove boxes against them. They must be replaceable
at small cost. Thus a comparatively new but active
branch of the Laboratories' work is constantly dealing
with a great variety of protective devices for purposes of
classification and label as in the other departments.

Alarm systems are classified in two ways: First, as to
kind of risk, into Bank alarm systems^ which must be very
sensitive, durable and in many ways highly refined; and
Mercantile alarm systems which meet somewhat less

174

Making Burglary More Difficult

exacting requirements. The second classification is into
Local systems which are self-contained, and Central
Station systems which are connected to an office from
which patrols are rushed when the signal is flashed.

Every system is graded according to a schedule of
credits. It must "pass" its examination, like a small
boy in school or a candidate for a civil service job. There
are certain credit points for each of the necessary features,
and if the system does not win a sufficient number of these
points, it does not secure its diploma, i. e., the listing.

A local mercantile system which wins less than 500 points
out of 1000 gets no recognition at all. From 500 to 700, it
is graded "C" and the minimum requirement for Grade
** B " is 700 points. For central stations and bank systems
there are similar schedules, but the requirements are
stricter. Those for bank systems form a lengthy document
which covers hundreds of items. Central station systems
present an additional factor, for the physical equipment is
supplemented by the service rendered or supposed to
be rendered by the company. As to the latter, claims
made in advertisements count for nothing; the basis
of the grading is performance. For instance, to get at
the important item of "average elapsed time in answer-
ing alarms," engineers not only go through the company's
records but remain night and day with its forces.

In order that a system may be listed by the Labora-
tories, its follow-up supervision as in all other lines must

175

A Symbol of Safety

be agreed to by the company. Underwriters' Labora-
tories' supervision includes the usual periodical inspec-
tions at factories, as to materials used, workmanship,
uniformity, etc. In addition the Laboratories keeps on
examining various installations in use and making in-
quiries, to countercheck the service rendered by the alarm
company.

J. A Typical Local Mercantile Alarm System

The most easily understood type of alarm system is the
"local" and the simplest classification recognized is that
of "mercantile". But even in a local mercantile system
there are several broad requirements all of which must
be met. These are as follows:

First. It is not sufficient for a system to be well de-
signed and well made; it must be maintained in good
order by the company.

Second. The rods or wiring must not be far enough
apart for the burglar to be able to spread them and
crawl through.

Finally, the gong or siren must be heard at least five
hundred feet under favorable conditions.

These three requirements seem obvious, yet many de-
vices on the market do not possess them all. This is one
of the principal reasons for the Laboratories' investiga-
tions. In testing a submitted system, the engineers study
first of all its general design and construction. Occaslon-

176

Making Burglary More Difficult

ally they tell the manufacturer at this point that unless
certain improvements are made further investigations
would be a waste of time.

Next in order has come the consideration of the system's
practicability as to its installation, use, and maintenance
in business premises — a matter of considerable work.

Following this, there are a number of laboratory tests,
most of them made to determine the durability of the
various parts of the system as well as of the entire in-
stallation unit. As an instance of the durability in-
vestigation there may be taken the case of a glass pane
protected with tinfoil ribbon applied near its edges in an
ornamental way. The manufacturer has supplied several
of a standard size, and the engineers, disregarding their
beauty, put them through a strenuous experience.

One pane is taken to the vibration apparatus, and its foil
is connected so that a buzzer will sound when a break
occurs in the circuit. The pane itself is held loosely
in steel grooves, and the loose play is increased until it
rattles as much as one-tenth of an inch. At the end, if
the buzzer has remained silent, observations are made
nevertheless for any looseness that will indicate faulty
method of foiling.

Another standard foiled sash is clamped vertically
and washed twelve times, with hot and cold water and
common cleaning compounds such as ammonia, scouring
soap, etc. This rarely results in a break in the circuit

177

A Symbol of Safety

but the engineers always look for scratches, discolorations,
turning-up of edges of foil strips, etc. Then come tests
by moist heat, dry heat and others reproducing conditions
of service, and, finally, the burglarious attack tests.

One of these consists in a number of attempts to muffle
the gong or otherwise to put it out of commission. This
is what many burglars try first to do, and, in duplicating
their efforts, the engineers make use of clay, tarpaulin,
liquid or other materials. As everyone knows, these gongs
are frequently enclosed in boxes so wired that tamper-
ing will ring the gongs. In making this test, the housing
is set up and connected as in use. One of the Laboratories'
experts, familiar with it — as burglars may be — and pro-
vided with proper tools, announces his readiness. "Time!"
calls the observer. The ** burglar " works swiftly, skilfully,
and without noise, because this is an "expert premeditated
attack ". Suddenly the gong shatters the silence. " Fifty
seconds," comments the observer. A second method of
attack is tried, but just as the engineer seems able to insert
a stick in the housing the gong clangs once more. Foiled
again! Is this device burglar-proof? Not yet, for the
expert smiles and tries a third method, which proves
successful. A confidential report containing suggestions
will be sent to the alarm company.

After using methods involving skill and knowledge of the
system, others are tried, representing the efforts of un-
skilled burglars. These " amateur " attacks consist in des-

178

FORESTALLING THE "YEGG"

The man on the ladder is not a bank robber, but a Laboratories' engineer. He is using one of the
favorite methods of yeggs in attempting to gain entrance to a protected vault by first silencing
the alarm. In this case, it is necessary to reach the gong by cutting through its housing with an
oxy-acetylene torch. The purpose of the test is to determine how successfully the housing can

resist such an attack

ATTACKING A BANK VAULT IN THE NEW YORK OFFICE

Will this "burglar'" be able to disconnect the powerful gong inside the alarm housing without breaking
the protected wiring under the steel louvres and thus setting off the alarm? The fact that he is an
expert of the Burglary Protection Division of the Laboratories leads one to think that the particular
system under investigation will be subjected to quite a severe test; and the severer the test the higher
the rating officially awarded to the system that passes it.

Making Burglary More Difficult

perately speedy drilling, sawing, chiseling, hammering,
prying, and so on. All this work is attended with more or
less suspicious noise, and depends for its chance of success
upon the speed with which it is carried forward. This
taking of time is therefore an important part of the test.

The next series of attacks is made upon the protection
wiring. This may at first appear to be impregnable, but
engineers thoroughly acquainted with the system now get
to work and eventually are able to pass through without
sending an alarm. However, if it prove to be a long and
difficult process, the system is regarded as affording much
more than the usual degree of protection.

Where electricity is involved, the fire hazard cannot be
overlooked, for no business man wishes to pay for burglary
protection the price of a possible fire. Underwriters'
Laboratories therefore investigates and tests the system
from that angle.

In addition to laboratory work, the engineers look over
the materials and workmanship of existing installations
by the alarm company, make tests at these points and ask
the users many questions about attempted burglaries,
trouble calls and their causes, false alarms, and the
frequency and extent of the inspections made by the
company. Such inquiries are supplemented by correspond-
ence with other users. Inspections are also made at the
factory itself, to determine the suitability of the equip-
ment used in the manufacture of the system, and other

179

A Symbol of Safety

points that would affect the ultimate protection afforded
by the system as manufactured.

4. Central Station Burglar Alarm Systems

The "central station" systems lay an especial emphasis
on the well-known human equation. Of what avail is it
for the burglar to incite the alarm and for the alarm faith-
fully to register that fact in a central station, unless
there be a speedy response by able and courageous guards?
Here, indeed, is a class of investigations so complicated
and technical because of the factors it involves, that no
attempt will be made even to give its headings, more than
to say that it concerns both the physical equipment and
the protection service.

In their usual meticulous fashion, the engineers put all
the physical elements through the necessary tests, and to
this study they add that of t\vQ forces employed by the
company, inside and outside, clerical, technical and special
— their selection, experience, qualifications and special
training, and their sizes and distribution: the equipment
of the guards and the travel facilities provided for them
and the relations of the company with the police depart-
ment of every city in which it operates central offices.

Perhaps it might be the most interesting method of
description to work backward from this last item.

Police Relations. The engineer assigned to make this
study begins by looking through the company's records

180

Making Burglary More Difficult

bearing on this subject. Police officials are then inter-
viewed and facilities obtained for gathering data on
eleven sub-topics, among which are the following:
Whether there is a well-defined relationship between
police and company; whether the police give preference
to calls from the company; whether the handling of these
calls is a matter of routine or are they handled In any
special manner; whether the relations are subject to change
with changing administrations; whether it is the same in all
precincts; whether It Is the same in different cities covered
by the company, and what provisions are made for giving
the right of way in traffic to the company's automobiles
rushing to answer signals?

Size and Distribution of Forces. This study includes
obvious items like the distance from central offices to
subscribers, the number of operators and of guards at
various times, how long it takes guards to report back, and
the number of subscribers' lines at each central office.

The Company Itself is considered not only as a firm which
manufactures, Installs and maintains electrical devices,
but also as an organization in which great confidence must
be reposed by subscribers and the investigators make
searching Inquiries.

Laboratory Tests. Every part of the system is subjected
to various tests, and the system as a whole is also made
to prove Its degree of impregnability, sensitiveness,
positiveness and other qualities. There are also tests to

i«i

A Symbol of Safety

reproduce the attacks of skilled and unskilled burglars,
familiar or unacquainted with the system. Other pos-
sibilities investigated under "defeat of the system" are
those of overpowering guards by force and of breaking into
premises and getting away before the arrival of guards.

Inspections and Tests at Installations. Actual installa-
tions are selected, and whenever practicable, the engineers
first close the place to represent night conditions. For
convenience, they always take along and connect a portable
signaling device, although in certain tests communication
is also established with the central office.

Every entrance test possible without injury is made on
these existing installations but, where necessary, the
engineers do not hesitate to make attacks which require
simple repairs. They never fail to note how far doors,
transoms and windows can be opened without signal to
central, and whether a burglar who does so can "fish" for
valuables with a stick and hook or other device. Nor do
they leave without trying to create false alarms by shaking,
pressing and jarring doors and windows.

5. Mechanical Resistance

We have already said that the Laboratories' engineers
have acquired the art of judging the weak points of anti-
burglar devices from the standpoint of the skilled burglar.
Sometimes a device is submitted which has been studied
from that standpoint but in which the engineers discover me-

182

Making Burglary More Difficult

chanlcal weaknesses, thanks to their wide experience in other
lines. For instance, the manufacturer of a show window
steel shutter which was supposed to drop immediately
if the plate glass were broken was told at the Labora-
tories that there were needed "almost a hundred and one
improvements." He disregarded the advice and sold hisde-
vice. Not long afterward, a burglar broke a show window
which had been equipped wi th i t, and helped himself to dis-
played valuables, while the apparentlyunconcerned shutter
stayed up. The next day the manufacturer came back to
the Laboratories in a penitent mood and listened respect-
fully to the engineers' advice. In another case a manu-
facturer was eager to bet that his lock could not be de-
feated. Fortunately for him the engineers do not take
bets, for the lock was opened in just ninety seconds.

In Chapter Sixteen the testing of automobile locks will
be described. It is typical of the testing of all locks.

Safety deposit boxes are received from the manufacturers
in typical sections of from twenty to fifty boxes. Using
various tools, several methods of entrance are devised —
some attended by noise and others almost silent. Each
method is used on several boxes, and by the time every
box has been entered and the results analyzed, the engi-
neers are able to judge of the degree of their resistance.

An interesting class of mechanism is that of "relocking
devices, " used mostly on bank vault doors. Their purpose
is to foil burglars in an unexpected way: When a hole

183

A Symbol of Safety

is drilled in the steel plate, or cut with a torch, or when
the combination is dynamited, or punched out with a
sledge, there is a click and the bolt bars are doubly secured,
so that the burglar would have to cut a hole large enough
to pass through in order to get in. Of course, the next
morning the bank must send for a mechanic to release the
relocking device and allow the normal opening of the door,
but that is little enough trouble for the extra protection
afforded by the device.

In examining these devices the engineers proceed as
engineers, but in testing them there is but one effective
way — and they follow it. They break in! When they
get through, the goods under test are fit only for the
junk dealer, but the result is that the grade of the
relocking device has been scientifically determined under
the many and minute requirements of Underwriters' Lab-
oratories' standard.

6. False Alarms^ ''Super-Burglars^' and ''Y eggs'''

That the foregoing tests are not made in a spirit of
over-fussiness is proved by the police records of every
city. The rewards of burglary have been altogether too
large in proportion to its perils, and the safety of the public
calls for every possible effort to cut down this class of
crime. If it be argued that many of the tests are directed
against the operation of the super-burglar it may be an-
swered that this class of gifted specialists is responsible

184

■■l-:i- I > !!' .<,■,■ .' ■ M • THE "OMAHA KID"

These are not really the names of these two perfectly respectable members of Underwriters' Labora-
tories' staff, but they are using methods that are frequently employed by yeggs on hre-proof vault doors.
In this case a relocking device is under test in order to determme whether its degree of burglar resistance
entitles it to receive official recognition by insurance companies

ENABLING BANKERS TO SLEEP PEACEFULLY

With so many expert bank burglars at large it becomes important to make sure that bank vault bur-
glar alarm systems cannot be silenced or otherwise defeated even by skilled yeggs working from Satur-
day evening to Monday morning. This picture shows one of these systems, completely assembled and
set up to represent conditions in a bank, being "attacked" by two of the Laboratories' experts, to de-
termine just how much reliance bankers may place in it

Making Burglary More Difficult

for many of the biggest robberies and is a constant incen-
tive to his lesser brethren.

On the other hand, it is doubtless true that cruder crim-
inals, like the "yeggs" and the "snatch robbers," constitute
a much greater menace because they are so much more
numerous. From the very simplicity and quickness of
their operations they are extremely hard to deal with.

Such men do not try to defeat alarms; they simply plan
to get away before the alarm is answered. In a recent
fairly typical instance, the same store was robbed four
times within two months, while policemen were only two
blocks away. In each case, the ; thieves watched their
chance, smashed the window with a padded brick, grabbed
what was within reach and made their escape by auto-
mobile. The alarm operated, but quick work made it
possible to get away.

In the robbery of a New York warehouse the robbers
evidently knew the exact limits covered by the alarm sys-
tem reporting to a central office. Going in a motor
truck to a point as far away as possible from the buildmg
they expected to rob, they broke a window with a brick,
thus sending in an alarm, and sped on to their real objec-
tive. The first alarm sounded in the central office and
armed guards were at once dispatched in a waiting auto-
mobile. But on reaching this place, they found merely a
broken window which they reported on their return to the
central office. In the meantime, the second alarm had

185

A Symbol of Safety

come in from a point a number of blocks distant and before
the guards could reach this second point, the robbers had
had six minutes in which to make their haul.

For such reasons, many inventors are now working on
efforts to combine alarms with apparatus for furnishing
resistance, in order to delay the burglar while the alarm
is being answered. Thus the battle of wits progresses.

One of the greatest obstacles to the success of alarm sys-
tems is the fact that so many of them operate too easily;
in other words, they signal when there is no attack.
In one central office it was estimated that there were forty-
nine false alarms to every one that was due to thieves.

Such conditions, naturally, are demoralizing. One of
the engineers of Underwriters' Laboratories, in making a
California inspection, caused a store alarm to be sounded,
then stood within the window and watched a policeman
who was about twenty feet away. The gong rang steadily
for five minutes and the officer never even turned his head.
Later he stated that he paid no attention to alarms because
they were "always ringing".

The elimination of non-attack alarms is one in which
the Laboratories is much interested.

What then is the result of all these painstaking labors?
Are they of any use, the cynic may inquire, since almost
every paper chronicles new and successful burglaries?
Why not simply concede that the thieves have the best
of the battle of wits, and save the trouble and expense of

186

Making Burglary More Difficult

toilsome tests? To such questions it may be answered
that the tests are still too new for their results to have
been applied in more than a small percentage of their total
possibilities. Furthermore, as is true in the case of fire,
it is one thing to prevent burglary^ considered in the
abstract and aggregate, and quite another thing to prevent
individual burglaries. This latter result has most certain-
ly been attained in very many cases.

The products of American inventive ability, selected
and classified by scientific tests that have only recently
been made available, and backed by an incentive in the
form of reduced rates for burglary insurance, should lead,
in time, to the wide installation of approved devices, and
then ultimately to a marked reduction of burglary itself.

187

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Protectmg Life and Limb
I. Playing a Double Role

THE prevention of accidents in this world of chance
— what could seem like a wilder, more impossible
ambition for an institution like Underwriters*
Laboratories? However, it is not well to jump to con-
clusions. The idea is reasonable; it is even meeting
with a fair degree of success.

The key to this extraordinary statement is to be found
in the letter *'s". There is a wide difference between
*' accidents," the plural word meaning few or many ac-
cidents, individually considered, and "accident," which
stands collectively for them all. Individual accidents are
being prevented in unaccountable numbers but the sum
total of casualty is still enormous. Even so, its limitation
in certain directions is already pronounced. Of the many
forces contributing to this end none plays a more vital part
than Underwriters' Laboratories.

As in the case of fire prevention, this part is physical,
not psychological. Careless people will continue to have
accidents in spite of all safeguards, and must be reached
through education, example and even legislation, as is

Protecting Life and Limb

now being undertaken on so large a scale, but there remains
an important field ot protective effort in reducing the
hazards of the devices and materials employed by man in
his daily life.

Safety to life or limb calls for the use of equipment or
methods that are devoid of natural hazard^ or that are
-provided with proper safeguards. In its casualty work,
therefore. Underwriters' Laboratories plays a double role:
it certifies a low degree of hazard in devices belonging to
classes which naturally are dangerous; and it determines
the degree of protection afforded by those appliances
whose purpose is to provide safeguards.

Incidentally, it may be noted that the work of the Casu-
alty Department overlaps that of the others at many
points, and it even sometimes happens that a device in-
tended to counteract some other hazard may unwittingly
introduce a new casualty hazard. Consequently, the
Laboratories never fails to consider the possible accident
hazard in whatever form of device may be under investiga-
tion and, conversely, it never fails to consider other
possible hazards whenever a device is submitted for
accident rating.

2. Ladders and Other Things

"The total depravity of inanimate things" has passed
into a proverb and perhaps none of these has borne a worse
reputation throughout the ages than the ancient and uni-

189

A Symbol of Safety

versal ladder, which therefore has become a subject of
much study at 207 East Ohio Street.

Slippage being the principal cause of accidents, inventors
have devised various forms of ladder /^^/, of which several
kinds have finally won recognition by the Laboratories.
To quote from its statement about them:

No one type of ladder foot has been found suitable under all con-
ditions of service. Many different types have been developed and the
type best suited to service should be chosen.

In general it may be said that for use on rough or wooden floors,
ladder feet having one or more sharp spikes, or having flat, lead-coated
bottoms will be found suitable. For use on wet and relatively smooth
floors, ladder feet having recessed rubber bottoms have been found
of service. For use on concrete and rough iron floors, ladder feet
having contact surfaces in which particles of abrasive substances,
such as carborundum, are partly embedded have been found suitable.
Ladder feet having lead-covered bases are also suitable for use on con-
crete floors.

Ladder feet should be renewed when worn or otherwise kept in
proper condition in order to perform their proper functions. Spiked
feet will wear and lose their sharpness. Suction-grip feet depend on
an even contact of their bottoms surrounding the recessed portions so
as to exert a suction effort; accordingly wear and damage resulting in
unevenness may soon destroy their effectivenes. Lead-coated feet
may wear or become smooth and offer less slipping resistance.
Abrasive-studded feet may have particles of abrasive broken off or
may become clogged with foreign material and thereby lose their
effectiveness.

Such were the conclusions of probably the most search-
ing inquiry into the subject of ladder slippage ever made.

190

Protecting Life and Limb

So much for ladder feet, but grades of materials, and
the form and dimensions of stringers, steps or rungs, braces,
hinges, spreaders, extension mechanism, and other fea-
tures are studied with equal care before the labeled
ladders can be offered to the public. The purchaser may
realize that if he have an accident it is his own fault.

Another man-made product quite indispensable in its
service, but with a bloody record, is glass. There is
hardly a person who has not had repeated encounters
with the sharp edges of broken glass, and its capacity for
harm needs no emphasis. Sometimes, as in the case of
broken wind-shields in automobile accidents, the injuries
inflicted may be serious, even fatal. This also is true, in
marked degree, with the falling fragments from upper
windows broken by the heat of fires or explosions. At
the time of the bomb outrage in Wall Street in September,
1920, glass fell in a shower from hundreds of windows,
and inflicted some serious injuries in the street below.

From the standpoint of both fire prevention and ac-
cident prevention there have been many efforts to obviate
this hazard in a material of such universal necessity, and
various products made in conformity with these ideas have
come before the Laboratories for investigation. Foremost
among these, of course, is the now familiar wired glass, in
which the mesh retains the fragments resulting from crack-
ing. This is generally recognized as one of the most im-
portant developments ever made in the fire-proofing

191

A Symbol of Safety

of buildings. The same qualities that make it valuable for
this purpose have their bearing upon the elimination of
accident hazard; in fact, in the case of the Wall Street
explosion, wired glass windows in some of the buildings
were the only ones to retain their place, although the
glass itself was cracked by the force of the concussion.

There has also been much experiment along other lines,
particularly in the search for a practical non-breakable
glass, which still seems a distant ideal; but considerable
progress has been made through the production of the
so-called " laminated glass ". One type of this product is a
kind of glass "sandwich," being made of two layers of
glass with a sheet of pyroxalin plastic or some other
transparent material placed between.

This latter kind of glass was submitted in 1916 after
having been eight months on the market as automobile
wind-shield and window glass, and the makers, claiming
that it had hundreds of other uses, desired that Underwrit-
ers* Laboratories certify its advantages over plain glass.
Among other points in their claim., they said that a power-
ful blow would cause a cluster of hair-line cracks but not
sufficient to penetrate it, leaving it still a perfect protection
against the weather. "This property should make it
valuable for instruments on which safety to life depends,
as on board ships." Another interesting claim was that it
was "practically burglar proof".

The Laboratories' engineers devised a number of tests,

192

Protecting Life and Limb

most of them made alternately on the submitted product
and on plate glass of the same thickness or weight. There
were static strength tests on samples supported at the
ends and subjected to increasing measured pressure at
the center, which showed, after mathematical computa-
tions had been made, that the invention was stronger than
plate glass. But the most interesting were the impact
strength tests in which the new product was compared
not only with plate glass but with wired glass, as to
resistance to falling weights such as pieces of lead or
one-pound steel balls. The quantity, appearance and
weight of the fragments thrown off were carefully observed
and those thrown off by the laminated glass test specimens
were found to be much less than those from wired glass,
while the plate glass samples were "completely shattered ".

Thousands of factory accidents have come from the use
of belting, particularly in the matter of breaking and shift-
ing. As to the latter, safety shifters have been devised
and are made a subject of study by the Laboratories.

Good safety belt shifters cost from fifteen to twenty-
five dollars and that is one reason why they are not
universally used, but an even stronger reason is that
mechanics do not take to them; they prefer to enjoy per-
forming the trick of shifting by hand, which is one of the
first things the young apprentice learns. In old-time
shops, youngsters were not allowed to shift belts; they
would have to call one of the old-timers, and stand in ad-

193

A Symbol of Safety

miration while he expertly flipped the belt from one step
of the cone pulleys to the other. Having at last acquired
the knack (perhaps after one or two narrow escapes) a man
would naturally scorn to use the "fool protector".

The breakage of belts is largely due to improper lacing
or fastening, hence machines for fastening the ends of
belts are of great importance. Imperfect fasteners also
account for severe lacerations of hands. Those that are
listed by the Laboratories have been carefully tested, and
are carefully kept up to standard by factory inspections.

Another example of a mischievous inanimate thing is
the common set-screw, which is harmless enough when
used to fasten two motionless parts, but is a source of
danger when it projects from the surface of a fast-revolv-
ing shaft, collar or coupling. There are safety set-screws
which need not project, because the usual slot is replaced
by a square or hexagonal cavity, and the Laboratories
has listed them, but as always their adoption is slower
than insurance inspectors would like to see it. One of
these inspectors was urging their use during the course of a
discussion with the superintendent of a large factory in
New York State, and he pointed out as almost criminally
hazardous one old-fashioned set-screw projecting from a
shaft near a narrow passage. "Nonsense," ridiculed
the superintendent, "that shaft and screw have been
turning there for fifteen years."

"Then, according to the law of averages," exclaimed

194

WIRKIJ CLA^S AND IllE WALL STREET BOMB

The terrific explosion of October, 1920, caused the glass from hundreds of windows to fall in a dangerous
shower to the crowded sidewalks. Plain glass windows in the same suite of ofTices where this picture was
made were completely destroyed, but windows of wired glass remained intact although extensively cracked

RECORDING AIR VELOCITIES IN SPRAY PAINTING BOOTH

"Spray guns" for applying paint are used in many industries, but this process releases inflammable
vapors which must be removed from the room. Here is a metal booth provided with a suction fan,
designed to make this work safe by exhausting the dangerous vapors. It is important that the air
flow inward at alt pomts, hence, the front of the booth is divided into sections, and the air velocities
are determined at each of them by means of an accurate wind-gauge

Protecting Life and Limb

the insurance man, "you are due for an accident. For
God's sake take it out!"

The superintendent laughed heartily, but shortly
afterwards his own clothing was caught by the self-same
set-screw, so that he was whirled around by the shaft
and badly injured.

In too many cases, it is good luck rather than good
management which has ''prevented" accidents.

Punch-presses are easy to operate, and boys and girls
as well as "birds of passage" and "floaters" are often
employed on them. They all must be safeguarded against
the results of their own ignorance or carelessness. An-
other psychological factor in the operation of punch-
presses is that so great is the force of habit that when the
worker's attention is distracted, he or she will often con-
tinue to press the pedal every two or three seconds, while
using the hands for something else. One girl, working on
a press which was "guarded" only from the front, saw
something wrong, quickly reached around the unprotected
back, and then, through force of habit, put her foot
on the pedal, with the result that her thumb was cut
off. Any complete guard would have prevented this
accident.

Ladders, glass, belts, set-screws, punch-presses ....
these few examples seem insufficient as illustrations of
the Laboratories' activities in the reduction of inherent
accident hazard, but space limitation forbids more than

195

A Symbol of Safety

one additional example, which may well be that of the
scaffold — not the hangman's scaffold, but the ordinary
builder's contraption — which has cost a far greater number
of human lives; indeed, on some buildings defective scaf-
folding has caused an average of one death for each floor.
Labeled scaffolding machines are so simple and obvious
in design, that one may well wonder why such methods
were not adopted generations ago. Here again it is made
evident that humanity wins forward slowly and haltingly
because every step taken involves the conquering of some
deeply-intrenched habit.

Safety scaffolding machines come in pairs, and are
arrangements of flexible cables, winding drums, guard
rail supports, toe boards and lesser parts mounted on
angle-iron "putlogs" on which rest the ends of the scaf-
fold proper — suitable planks supplied by the builder. Their
operation, too, is so simple that bricklayers and stone-
masons, who are notably slow to learn "machinery,"
hardly need to be taught how to use them. The Labora-
tories' work of certification, however, was far from sim-
ple. It so happened that this was the second subject
dealt with by the Casualty Department, and its exhaust-
ive report of examinations and tests, published in 191 5,
bears testimony to its consciousness of the burden of re-
sponsibility for the future safety to thousands of lives.
It is gratifying to note the statement of one authority
that there never yet has been a fatal accident from the failure

196

Protecting Life and Limb

of labeled scafolding. Contrast this with the ghastly
record of the old type!

J. Safety Appliances

In the foregoing examples, as well as in many others,
there has been the need of searching out and correcting
inherent hazards, but this spells only part of the labors
of the Casualty Department, for the progress of the safety
idea has shown itself in a multiplicity of products whose
sole purpose is that of safeguarding. These include a
great variety of guards for machines and tools of many
kinds — to prevent workers' limbs being caught, to prevent
clothing being caught, to stop flying fragments when
breakages or explosions occur, to prevent human contact
with molten metals, highly heated parts or electrically
"live" parts; also articles to be worn, such as goggles,
gloves, respirators and window cleaners' belts and fittings,
and a number of exit and "panic" appliances. Their
diversity makes it difficult to speak of them in general
terms: every device must be judged with regard to its
peculiar function in use.

Perhaps the most complicated safety appliance thus
far submitted was a fire-escape which included a small
jib-crane, a supporting bracket, a steel cable, drum and
other things. The whole was for window attachment and
was intended to lower its user to the ground in case of fire,
then automatically to rewind its cable for the next usen

197

A Symbol oj Safety

In examining this the engineers dismantled it in order to
note the structural details; and their report on the form
and arrangement of parts, materials and workmanship
ran to 3,500 words. Then followed various strength tests
and even temperature tests that were made to ascertain
whether the grease in the drum cylinders would become
too solid in cold weather, thus slowing the descent, or
would soften in hot weather thus allowing a heavy
person to come down too quickly. Satisfied on this
point, there were actual operation tests from a third-floor
landing, during which a number of observations were
made. In one of the descents, the manufacturer's rep-
resentative stopped with a jerk before reaching the ground
because he had shortened the cable too much. However,
the Laboratories' own clean record as to "never an
accident" was not marred, because the machine withstood
the shock without damage or weakening, while the maker's
agent passed off the incident with a laugh. But the
engineers, when their amusement had passed (though the
report says nothing about it), discussed this incident in
technical language in their report, because it threw light
on the strength and reliability of the fire-escape.

In another case an inventor wished to demonstrate
his device in a similar way, but this was not permitted
by the engineers because it had not been sufficiently
safeguarded. A short time later he fell and was killed
while demonstrating in another city.

198

Protecting Life and Limb

Another complicated safety appliance is known as "an
emergency discharging system for ammonia plants,"
and is for use in refrigerating plants. When fires occur
in such plants, firemen are sometimes hampered by the
fumes of ammonia, and this device is intended to dis-
charge the ammonia harmlessly into the sewer in case of
sudden need.

Among other emergency safety devices may be men-
tioned panic doors and panic hardware for doors, the use
of which would have saved hundreds of lives in theater
and school disasters which it will take many decades
to forget. The Laboratories, before listing such devices,
puts them through careful examinations as to workman-
ship and provisions for durability, as well as through
practical operation tests to make sure that a slight pres-
sure on the latch immediately and positively causes the
door to open.

But the greatest amount of work is upon safety appli-
ances and materials for every-day use. One of the sim-
plest of these is the safety tread for stairways. Inventors
came with ideas which they believed to be the solution
of the slippage problems due to wear, water, or other
conditions, but the Laboratories devised special testing
apparatus in which mechanically operated weights,
shod with leather "soles," were scuffed back and forth over
the surface and the treads. After a certain number of
thousand rubs, some products were found to have become

199

A Symbol of Safety

smooth and slippery while others showed little wear.
The "S.A. " files on this subject contain quantities of
letters between the Laboratories and manufacturers, with
safety commissions and other interested bodies chiming
in. There are many so-called safety stair treads on the
market, but few labeled ones. The Laboratories' engineers
supplemented their tests with "field investigations,"
and interviewed a number of persons. Samples were also
installed on the Laboratories* main stairway for direct
personal experience. Even the question of lawsuits that
had arisen from accidents involving certain materials was
weighed, although it must be emphasized that the Labora-
tories examines questions of/^r/, and leaves to lawyers
and judges the determination of law. At any rate, the
Laboratories' findings were revolutionary; they stirred con-
siderable discussion, but they have stood. And this in
spite of the fact that the Laboratories purposely with-
held the major portion of its conclusions on account of
"insufficiency of data," and restricted itself in a "letter
report" to a brief statement as to the suitability of vari-
ous types for use.

Guarding devices for the protection of workers are
sometimes too simple to be effective, particularly in the
case of certain forms used with stamping presses. For
such purpose, the ideal guard is one that is connected to
the latch of the press clutch in such a way that the ram
cannot descend while the operators' hands are in the

200

BETTER THAN LOSING FINGERS

Unguarded circular saws are the cause of niany accidents. In order to protect operators, many

forms of mechanical guards have been devised. A test of one of these is here being made for the

purpose of determining to what degree it will fulfill its purpose

^ PROTECTING THE EYES OF WORKMEN

These operators do not appear to be safeguarding the eyesight of many thousands of workmen; never-
theless, that is the purport of the test here pictured. In some metal mdustnes workers rnust wear
goggles in order to protect their eyes from flying fragments, but poor goggles may be worse than none,
since they add the danger from glass fragments. Here is a steel ball drop test which simulates mdus-
trial conditions where a flying rivet head may strike the goggle lens

Protecting Life and Litnb

danger zone. It would take too long to go through the
list of machines which need guarding appliances.

In every case, the Laboratories operates the machine
many times, using finger-shaped pieces of wood in
attempts to defeat the purpose of the guarding device.
The workmanship of the devices is also considered, and
their service records carefully investigated. Almost all
the devices submitted in this class have been improved
by suggestions made by the engineers.

Goggles are used as protection not only against flying
particles but also against radiation: intense flames and
the incandescence of metals in welding operations are a
source of ultra-violet rays which tend to cause the dread
cataract. Samples of the various styles and shades of
goggle lenses made by each submittor are examined and
tested to determine their transmission of heat, light and
ultra-violet radiation. At the Laboratories, ** comfort"
tests by a number of observers, strength tests, hot metal
tests, and tests of materials are made in thorough manner.

Elevator inspection is outside the scope of the Labora-
tories, but a number of elevator safety appliances have
been submitted and put through various tests not only
at the East Ohio Street plant but at various actual in-
stallations. The reports on elevator safety appliances
which have received listing always include at least one
paragraph as to the conditions under which these devices
are quite suitable; for instance some of them might not be

20 1

A Symbol of Safety

always reliable if the play of the elevator car or shaft door
were greater than one-half inch. The strength and dura-
bility requirements, of course, are rigid.

In these and many other ways, the fingers and bones of
millions of industrial workers and the bodily safety of all
classes of the public are safeguarded through the constant
study and innumerable tests made by the engineers of the
Casualty Department.

202

CHAPTER S IXTEEN

The Safety of Cars and Their Passengers

The Start of the Schedules

PROBABLY no single industrial development of the
past generation has changed conditions of life so
greatly as has the automobile. The horse, man's
great animal assistant since before the dawn of history,
is being pushed into the background with a swiftness which
would have seemed unbelievable. Streets that once
echoed to the beat of hoofs are now noisy with the rasping
blasts of automobile horns. Country roads on which,
but a few years ago, the family buggy jogged comfortably
along, are now hidden in clouds of dust from touring cars
and runabouts. The draft horses which formerly strained
to pull heavily-loaded trucks have been displaced by the
motors that handle far heavier truck-loads without appeal
to the sympathies of onlookers. Even the farm, last refuge
of horsepower, is being invaded by tractors. Everywhere,
the traditional stable is giving way to the garage.

The utility of motor cars, tractors and motorcycles has
thus been established overwhelmingly, but the accompany-
ing evils of motor accident and crime also have grown to
such proportions as to force their way prominently into

203

A Symbol of Safety

the news columns of every day. Thus, inevitably, they
have come up for study in the one institution that is best
equipped for such investigation. Underwriters' Labora-
tories is constantly engaged in tests of safety factors in
automobile design and construction, as well as of the locks
by means of which the operations of thieves are resisted.
These tests are of direct or indirect interest to every-
one who intrusts his safety to a car or who pays premiums
on automobile insurance. As is usual with the Labora-
tories' activities, this branch of the work grew out of the
requirements of the insurance companies.

Automobile liability was first written in 1898. Origi-
nally, it was largely a matter of guesswork, but within
twenty years automobile underwriting had become highly
developed, had definite forms for fire, theft, collision,
property damage and public liability, was being written
by more than 400 insurance organizations and was paying
approximately ^100,000,000 a year on losses.

While moral hazard is perhaps the greatest factor, the
importance of good design and construction, with safe-
guards against fire, theft and collision hazards, looms large,
and in these respects the interests of insurance companies
and of car owners are identical. Improvements in such
matters are the natural result of cooperation among three
bodies, namely the National Automobile Chamber of
Commerce, the National Automobile Underwriters' Con-
ference and Underwriters' Laboratories. As in the case

204

The Safety of Cars and Their Passengers

of other industries, this triumvirate was inevitable, and
the way in which it came about is worth telling.

It began in a small way. Several auto-lock manu-
facturers, during 191 5, applied for opinions as to the merits
of their devices. When two or three of these devices had
passed the tests and had been listed, the N. A. U. C,
finding that theft losses were being reduced in consequence,
decided to grant a premium reduction for the use of labeled
locks. This established the first point of contact between
automobile insurance underwriters as a body and the
Laboratories. This work has grown so that now three
engineers are constantly engaged in testing auto locks.

Next came the question of fire hazard. Fire insurance
rates were at first based on horsepower, but the obvious
difficulties of this method caused a change in rates based
on list price — as everyone can remember. This, too,
involved perplexing difficulties: for example, an auto-
mobile, which at that time was listed at ^1,785, f. o. b.
Detroit, took a greater fire insurance rate there than in
Chicago where it sold for ^1,805, the dividing line between
rates being 1 1,799. The manufacturers, in consequence,
proceeded to install a fifteen-dollar bumper as standard
equipment on 11,785 cars sold in Detroit, changing the list
price to |i,8oo and causing a decrease in fire insurance rate
without increasing the fire protection.

The automobile fire underwriters finally decided to
follow the example of their colleagues in the general field

205

A Symbol of Safety

of fire insurance; they formally requested the Laboratories
to ascertain whether it would be possible to develop a
schedule wherein the inherent hazards of car and truck
construction could be analyzed, so as to have rates based
on such an analysis. After some meetings, the Labora-
tories undertook the large task of drawing up a schedule
covering every inherent hazard, which meant hundreds
of items, of determining the number of credit points or
demerits for each item, and o^ applying this in a scientific
and practical manner so as to grade American-made auto-
mobiles and trucks with regard to insurable hazards.

Manufacturers, as a body, through the N. A. C. C,
approved the project — in principle. But what of in-
dividual manufacturers? Would the maker of a ten-
thousand-dollar car take a chance on the Laboratories
reporting that it should take a higher rate than that for a
car costing one-twentieth which by luck might have
been designed and was constructed in conformity with
high standards from the standpoint of insurable hazard?
As an even more perplexing question: would two — or ten
— fiercely competing manufacturers of cars which were
then taking the same rates on the price method, relish
the necessity of standing in a row like schoolboys, meta-
phorically speaking, with this manufacturer at the head
and that one at the foot — according to the points won
by their respective cars, unless they might know in
advance how the points of the schedule were to be won?

206

The Safety of Cars and Their Passengers

It must be repeated, that the Laboratories never solicits
business, that its service is not compulsory, and that its
only authority is that of scientifically determined facts.
Therefore it could not urge manufacturers to submit
their cars; nor could it urge any one to accept its findings.
Furthermore, this work would be costly, and a number
of manufacturers went on record as objecting to paying
the Laboratories for examining their cars. i

Strange to say, it was this objection which spelled the
success of the whole undertaking: The N. A. U. C. finally
instructed the Laboratories to examine all passenger cars
at its own expense; this was late in 1920, and two years
later the immense task was practically completed.

Its principal result was the publication of the Lab-
oratories' Fire Schedule, and of two others, in which
the design, construction and equipment factors affecting
collision and thejt^ respectively, are tabulated and assigned
various numbers of credit points in a scientific way.
These schedules, as usual, were not published until passed
upon by representative men outside of the Laboratories.
In this field there was soon felt the need of a new council,
and consequently the official Automobile Council was
formed in 1919, with at first five members of the Rate
and Statistical Committee of the N. A. U. C. and two
members of the Laboratories' staff. Later, four more
prominent automobile insurance men were added, mak-
ing a total of eleven members.

207

A Symbol of Safety

In spite of the fact that the activities just referred to
made possible a closer approach to scientific automobile
underwriting than ever before, the schedules have not
as yet received general application, save as to the fire
schedule on passenger cars. While this fact has reduced the
usual incentive of manufacturers in seeking tests and
ratings, it has brought into sharp relief a still higher value.
It is inspiring to find that this industry, whose output is
daily entrusted with the lives of millions of people, has
sought the aid of Underwriters' Laboratories in an effort
to attain the highest degree of fire safety in its output quite
apart from the question of insurance rates. So far^
more than one hundred and twenty-five cars and fifty trucks
have been submitted^ and in response to the suggestions made^
about forty makes have been redesigned from radiator to
tail-lamp. Such a statement speaks for itself.

2. ^^ Carding" for Fire Safety

"Only engineering features are considered in the
Schedules," states the Laboratories' own preface. The
moral hazard and the^r^ exposure \i2CL2Lxd, are not scientific
entities; they are too elusive to reduce to laboratory
terms, for the former arises out of human nature itself
and the latter is governed by ever-changing conditions.
It includes such questions as that of whether a car is kept
in a public or private garage, the way in which the garage
is heated and the many other combinations of physical

208

The Safety of Cars and Their Passengers

factors that affect thousands of individual cases. There-
fore, while the insurance companies cannot by any means
overlook these hazards, their study lies outside the scien-
tific province of Underwriters' Laboratories and they are
not considered in the schedules. Likewise, "questions of
injury to persons or of damage to other property [than
the car] are not pertinent". But with these excluded,
there remains a large and important field for study in the
engineering factors of fire safety. In the theft schedule,
too, engineering factors alone are considered.

It would be out of the question to detail the many points
that must be considered in judging the fire hazard of an
automobile but there are four items that are deemed most
fundamental.

The first of these items refers to the tubing and con-
nectors between tank and carburetor. During the pre-
liminary investigations, Laboratories' engineers were as-
tonished to discover that the most elementary principles
of fire protection were so often overlooked. And a study
of fires showed that many were traceable to leaks which
proper workmanship and the use of proper materials and
methods would have avoided.

The second requirement is that the low tension wiring
be of ample capacity for current load and mechanical
strength. Here, as in many other features, manufacturers
frankly admitted that the electrical fire hazard had never
entered their minds; yet, an added expenditure of two or

209

A Symbol of Safety

three cents per car would in some cases have safeguarded
this particular feature.

The third and fourth items refer to the connections and
supports of wiring and to workmanlike joints and splices,
with wires suitably supported at frequent points to avoid
dropping, chafing, and excess vibration. Such points were
elementary but were often overlooked, with the result that
arcs and short circuits were of frequent occurrence and this
in the presence of gasolene vapor! An inexcusable number
of "total loss" fires have been due to the ignition of gaso-
lene and oil drippings by means of imperceptible sparks
that should never have been permitted to occur.

Vice-President Small said in an address before the
Society of Automotive Engineers:

As to the automobile fire hazard, from the viewpoint of design,
it has seemed to me that the automobile industry has overlooked the
fact that there is current in the storage battery. A storage battery
can melt any piece of wire if there is a good short circuit.

Furthermore, what shall be said as to breather holes
that exude oil, engine pans whose doubtful usefulness is
outweighed by the hazard of their accumulated drippings,
exhaust lines close under dripping carburetors, improperly
vented tanks, feed lines below the road clearance, the
simple but dangerous gravity feed system, tanks located
in cowls and filled from under hoods, tanks that permit
too large an accumulation of that hazardous fluid, gaso-
lene, tanks that rattle, work loose and leak, tanks with

2IO

A WINDSHIELD VISOR ON THE "SHIMMY" TABLE

Will this visor hold its proper position during the vibration of travel on rough roads? The answer is
here being given, for this table always "travels over rough roads"; in other words, it is mechanically vi-
brated to a degree that offers a severe test

A CORNER IN THE AUTOMOBILE ENGINE LABORATORY

Here is found a complete automobile ixiwer plant with absorption dynamometer for measuring the horse
power develo[)ed. This is used in the heating and explosion tests of mufflers, operation tests of fuel
feed systems, starting and ignition equipment, and other features. In the picture an automobile muffler
at the right of the opening in the wall is being observed as to its radiation of heat. Sometimes, these
mufflers are shoved through this opening and tested up to the point of explosion. At such times there
is an alarming detonation. The muffler on the floor has been torn apart by an explosion

Guarding against head lamp "glare"

Many devices have been submitted for the purpose of preventing the dangerous glare that has been
responsible for so many automobile accidents. These are given scientific study at Underwriters'
Laboratories. In the photograph, the light intensity of the head lamps in the background is being
accurately measured by means of a photometer, the beam of light at any given f)oint being studied in
terms of apparent candle power

The Safety of Cars and Their Passengers

fill openings that are too small for curb pump nozzles,
tanks that cannot be drained without removing them
from the car, wires that run where oil and gasolene may
accumulate, exhaust pipes that are close to combustibles
and to the tank, feed lines without shutoff valves, and so
on with various other hazards that would rarely occur to
the user and might not occur even to a manufacturer if
his attention were not specifically called to their presence.

However, the car owner is less interested in separate
details of fire hazard than in their combined effect, for he
is thinking of his car as a whole. How safe is it? That
is what he wishes to know. Consequently, the Labora-
tories has now adopted a system of cards in which opinions
are expressed as to specific makes and models.

A typical card bears the following statement:

This automobile, of the model indicated, when equipped at the
factory with any one of the body styles giv^en below, has been found
upon examination to be reasonably safeguarded against fire resulting
from features of design, construction and/or assembly.

Complicated tests, weeks of time and a mass of technical
information have been required, but in this case the results
of them all have been summed up in just four words which
any layman can understand — "reasonably safeguarded
against fire."

It should be noted that no cars are "carded" unless the
manufacturer has signed a contract providing for yearly
reexamination.

211

A Symbol of Safety

The foregoing applies to fire safety alone, and the col-
lision and theft schedules are hardly less important.

The collision schedule deals with those mechanical fea-
tures upon which a driver, often inexperienced, must de-
pend when he sends the complicated mechanism under
his control at high speed up hill and down, over ruts and
tracks, past traffic, rocks and trees, and, in so doing, stakes
his own life upon its performance.

Advertisements, when they leave off superlatives and
come down to specific points, lay stress on such things as
ease of control, flexibility, durability, strength, complete-
ness of factory equipment and similar matters. Since
these things have to do with the collision hazard, the La-
boratories' engineers do not go by advertisements, but
put cars through a searching series of examinations and
practical tests upon all essential features. The most lux-
urious limousine cannot receive classification "A" unless
it merits "full credit under Items 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, 24, 29,
31, 2^i 3^5 42 and 48." These include such exactly-
defined requirements as: "hand brake grip released not
over twenty-four inches from low point of steering wheel
rim," "road clearance at least nine inches," "service brake
area one square inch per 17.5 lb. car weight," to mention
only three of these items.

The third schedule is that of classification with regard
to theft hazard. It assigns certain credits to items of
protection value, as is the case with the two preceding

212

The Safety of Cars and Their Passengers

schedules, and it deals especially with theft retardants^ for,
be it noted, there is no such thing as a "theft-proof" car.
Given sufficient time, a mechanically expert thief can
make away with any car. Theft retardants, therefore,
are intended to make his profession dangerous by increas-
ing the time required for his success.

The theft retardants recognized in the schedule are
"standard listed and labeled locks built in stock equip-
ment." These will be touched upon under the heading
of "Automobile Appliances."

Another item, too often overlooked, is that of the iden-
tification of the car or truck by markings. Thieves gener-
ally know which makes and models have easily-changed
numbers, and, other things being equal, they go after them
rather than others.

This matter of identification, by the way, precisely be-
cause it leads to the recovery of cars, has an important
bearing on the issue of moral hazard which the insurance
companies themselves have made possible by insuring cars
against theft. Thousands of car owners throughout the
country, who may once have been proud of their cars,
come in time to prefer the theft insurance money to the
car itself. A number of "stolen" cars have been fished
out of lakes, rivers and swamps, or have been discovered
in quarries, usually with their identification numbers
removed. Secretly-located numbers would have helped
in tracing their erstwhile owners and the investigation of

213

A Symbol of Safety

all suspicious circumstances. That this moral hazard is
not negligible is indicated by the significant fact that cars
so often burn up in isolated spots, unwitnessed.

Prevention of over-insurance is difficult, and inherent
protection, in the nature of identification marks, seems to
offer the best promise of solution.

It is interesting to see the variety of marking devices
which are submitted to the Laboratories and the ease with
which most of them are defeated by the ingenuity of its
engineers. These young men have expert knowledge of
engraving, die-stamping, brazing, electro-plating and
other necessary processes, but so also have many of the
thieves; the thieves must be anticipated at their own game
if real protection is ever to be evolved.

J. Automobile Appliances

The great majority of automobile appliances submitted
for listing are locking devices. In this field there is in-
tense competition, and yet we find listed locks costing per-
haps over twenty dollars competing successfully with
others selling for as little as two dollars. A large Chicago
distributor for many automobile accessory manufactureirs
has declared that the Laboratories is the one stabilizing
influence in the industry.

No one type of lock Is the best type for all cars, and some

makes and styles are designed for particular cars. This is

not held as an objection by the Laboratories, which simply

214

The Safety of Cars and Their Passengers

prints these limitations under the name of the maker in .
the List of Inspected Automotive AppHances.

Three engineers are constantly at work on locking de-
vices— which indicates both a crowded held and a com-
plexity of problems. To illustrate these problems: a man-
ufacturer had over ^125,000 invested in jigs, tools and dies,
and after studying the Laboratories' requirements with his
own engineers, he concluded that he would have to scrap
this equipment in order to comply with them. The
Laboratories* engineers worked out changes which al-
lowed him to continue to use most of it. He later
thanked them for saving him over $100,000.

Three samples of each locking device must accompany
the application for listing. The first is thoroughly dis-
mantled and investigated, and the other two are then sub-
jected to ''expert premeditated attacks" by methods de-
termined from the study of the first one. When deemed
necessary, another sample is subjected to a seventy-two-
hour test on the vibration table, familiarly known to the
staff as the "shimmy table". This test is made for the
purpose of showing whether the sample will be locked by
the shaking process of a rough trip and is the full equiva-
lent of traveling thousands of miles over rough roads.
Corrosion tests are also made, and, where electricity is
involved, the maximum rated load is applied throughout
the operation and other tests.

The engineers in charge of this work have acquired

215

A Symbol of Safety

marvelous skill, and are fond of telling the story of the
enthusiastic manufacturer who breezed in with the state-
ment that the theft problem was solved once for all, thanks
to his lock. The engineer on whom he was calling learned
that he had driven up in his own car, and deduced that it
was equipped with one of his locks. The engineer winked
at an assistant who thereupon went to the manufacturer's
car, easily defeated the lock and then drove the car out of
sight around the corner. A few minutes later, the manu-
facturer suggested that the engineer go downstairs to have
a look at the car, with its "theft-proof" locking system,
and his consternation on reaching the spot where his car
had stood so short a time before may be imagined.

Here is the procedure in a typical "driving test": A
steering wheel lock comes in for investigation; it chances
to be a combination lock of the " free spinning" type. In
other words, when locked, the wheel can be spun without
moving the steering rod. Surely, no thief will run away
with a car that cannot be steered — so says the inventor.

The testing engineer takes the car out on the lake front
where traffic is light and proceeds to do the things that he
believes would occur to the mind of a skilful thief. He
does not try to unlock the device — in fact, he does not
even know the combination — he merely tries the obvious
method of getting a friction bearing on the rod by means
of pressure. The car whizzes down the road and comes to
a cross street. The engineer presses hard on the wheel

216

The Safety of Cars and Their Passengers

in his hand and turns the corner with little difficulty. At
the next corner the wooden rim pulls loose, but it appears
that the car still can be steered by means of the struts.

Next, he unfastens a screw and easily lifts the wheel
from its position. This exposes the end of the steering
rod and with this gripped tightly in a pair of pliers, he
directs the car without trouble. There will be another
disappointed manufacturer when the report is made, but
better so than that car owners should put their trust in a
lock that does not furnish protection.

In typical tests of a different kind, the engineer con-
fronts a key lock which lifts the gearing of the steering
wheel out of mesh and thus prevents its operation. The
engineer picks up a hammer and strikes a few quick blows
which drive the rod into position. In exactly ten seconds
the lock is defeated and the "thief" can run off with the car.

However, the tests go still further in order to aid the
manufacturer by furnishing him with reports of all the
defects which it is necessary to overcome. In the next
instance, the lock is unfastened by taking out a set-screw
and driving out the locking pin; time: three seconds.

Following this, a hack-saw is called into play and the
housing is cut in order to remove the pin. The lock is
opened in one minute fifty seconds. \ final test of similar
length requires cutting into the locking cylinder housing,
knocking out the housing and then operating with a screw-
driver in order to get the bolt into driving position.

217

A Symbol of Safety

These tests involve but two of the many kinds of locks
and none of them calls for more than a few simple tools
such as any automobile thief may carry with him. It
is perhaps small wonder that car-stealing is so grave a
menace.

Bumpers run locks a close second in point of number,
fifty-two makes of front bumpers alone being listed. The
tests are not gentle. Imagine the jar of driving a 2,500-
pound car full tilt into a stone pier at four miles an hour!
Would the bumper protect its occupants? In order to
satisfy the Laboratories' requirements this condition must
be met. But how? Shall an expensive car be im-
periled by sending it against an obstacle in trying out an
inexpensive bumper? By no means, for a simple device
of great ingenuity fully serves the purpose, and the tests
that it permits are somewhat spectacular.

The bumper under investigation is fastened, not to a
car, but to the front of a strong automobile frame which,
in turn, is bolted upon a concrete block. Hanging from a
beam seventy feet overhead, like a giant pendulum, is a
650-pound weight. This weight is drawn back to a given
distance, not exceeding twenty-three feet, and then re-
leased. Forward it swings in a wide arc, gathering speed
as it goes, and delivers a violent blow upon the bumper,
which bends before it and then, if it be of sufficient
strength, springs back into shape. The theoretical "car"
has been saved. Other swings may come at other dis-

218

WILL THE BUMPER PROTEC T YOUR CAR?
Something more than manufacturers' claims are necessary to answering this important question.
Some bumpers are stiff and non-resi'.ient. others bend and break under impact. There is no need to
wait for an accident, for here is a bumper mounted in a chassis frame receivmg a blow from a swmgmg

pendulum of 600 pounds

WHY AUTOMOBILES ARE STOLEN

Myriad forms of locking devices are ofTered to America's lO.COO.OOO car owners. Some of them are
excellent, others are defeated with ridiculous ease in a few seconds by means of such tools as a thief might
carry in his pocket. It may be assumed that the steering wheel lock in the picture will not receive the
coveted label if the testing engineer is able quickly to force its housing by means of a hammer and

cold chisel

A LOCKING CYLINDER AFTER 100.000 OPERATIONS

Automobile locks, in addition to being "pick proof" when new, must remain effective after long use.
By means of the patient and persistent machine seen in the photograph, a key is inserted, turned, and
withdrawn 100,000 times in succession. This must not produce appreciable wear in the locking cylinder

or decrease its theft protection

The Safety of Cars and Their Passengers

tances and from other angles, and in each case the condi-
tions and facts are carefully noted.

Several years ago the yard contained quite a pile of
shattered bumpers, representing the shattered hopes of
manufacturers, but their destruction has made for im-
provements which have greatly raised the level of this
useful device. Of course, the bumping test is but a part
of the investigations, which cover the usual subjects of
practicability of installation and use, durability, the pro-
tection afforded to exposed parts of the automobile front,
and other items.

One interesting series of tests has made use of the spec-
troscope in judging of wind-shield visors. This type of
appliance is intended to protect the driver from the glare
of the sun or of approaching headlights, hence it makes use
of colored or clouded glass designed to absorb certain of
the rays and allow others to pass. There is an obvious
peril if the glass fails to show the red light of danger signals
and its characteristics in this respect are tested by means
of spectroscopic photographs.

These are but a few of the subjects of study, for the
field of automobile appliances is an attractive one for in-
ventors, and the number of submitted devices is fast
growing. The Laboratories is frequently in receipt of ap-
plications which have to be rejected because they bear no
distinct relation to recognized hazards, notwithstanding

which the List already includes more than a thousand

219

A Symbol of Safety

items, covering fire hazard, collision hazard and the hazard
of theft in myriad ways.

For all these reasons the safety of millions of car owners
is vitally affected by the constant investigations that are
made by the engineers of the Automobile Department.

220

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Certifying Aircraft and Pilots

I. The Newest T)epart7nent

IT WAS not until ten years after the beginning of Un-
derwriters' Laboratories that aviation emerged from
the realm of "moonshine" and became a subject for
men to take seriously, for it was in 1903 that Wilbur and
Orville Wright made their first success in a very primitive
kind of airplane flying. Prior to this time man had made
himself mechanical devices which enabled him to outrun
the horse and outswim the fish, but the art of flying, in
which birds and insects were so adept, had seemed impos-
sible to acquire, the clumsy and dangerous sport of bal-
looning having no claim to be considered flying, and even
the remarkable experiments of Langley suggesting little
of immediate value.

The Wright Brothers came at last, and, through them
and others, aviation was placed on a solid foundation, if
such a mixed metaphor may be allowed. Today, the
hum of the airplane propeller has become too familiar to
arouse special interest. Airplanes are traveling through

the sky every minute of every day, and frequently at

221

A Symbol of Safety

night; mail planes make trips on schedule time and definite
passenger service now exists between various points.

The number of private owners of airplanes is rapidly
increasing, and many of the insurance companies have be-
gun to write coverage in response to demand. In conse-
quence, there have arisen the usual questions: "What are
the hazards? How can they be minimized? What should
insurance cost?"

It was natural that the National Aircraft Underwrit-
ers' Association should have turned to the Laboratories
in order to find the bases for the answers.

The Laboratories undertook this important work in
1920. It began in its usual way, by assembling and ar-
ranging known facts, by engaging the best obtainable
talent to ascertain facts yet unknown, by evolving defini-
tions and classifications, by studying existing standards,
and by formulating requirements to minimize hazard.

A former army aviator, then holder of the world's alti-
tude record of over seven and a quarter miles, was engaged
as the Laboratories' aviation engineer. Following this,
cooperation was obtained from engineering societies, aero
clubs, the War, Navy and Post Office Departments of the
Federal Government, the Air Board of Canada, manu-
facturers, pilots, owners and other sources, in addition to
the insurance interests. A competent staff was developed,
and this included picked resident engineers at aviation
centers throughout the country. It was decided to follow

222

Certifying Aircraft and Pilots

that "charter of international flying," the convention of
1919, which was one of the results of the Peace Confer-
ence, and established a broad basis for uniformity of
control of air traffic.

The investigation problems divided themselves into two
principal groups: those of the craft and the pilot, with a
third concerning supplementary factors, like landing fields,
water areas and hangars. An early question involved the
craft owned and operated by the federal government.
This led to a broad classification of aircraft, into "govern-
ment" (those used for military, post office, customs, post
guard or police duty), "commercial" (those used for the
purpose of any profession, trade or business), and "pri-
vate" (including all aircraft not listed as "government"
or "commercial").

The next steps were to register individual planes and to
create a register, on the lines of Lloyd's register of com-
mercial and private vessels. However, all this was merely
preliminary, for, on May i, 1922, the Laboratories began
the operation of a nation-wide inspection service, in order
to make it possible to issue "certificates of air-worthiness"
for individual aircraft. With regard to pilots, the Lab-
oratories followed the nautical example. It undertook
the registration of pilots other than "state," together with
their individual rating, based on periodical examinations
and tests. These two subjects, aircraft and pilots, can

best be understood in a separate discussion.

223

A Symbol of Safety

2. Planes^ Parts and Accessories

The development of the airplane and seaplane from the
time of the great international competition at Rheims in
1909 has been both romantic and irregular. Flyers would
advance the art; then builders and engine makers would
make their contribution, and the difficult science of aero-
dynamics would be applied in the improvement of lines
and wing shapes; next inventors would devise better con-
trols, landing gears and other necessities; and once more
daring flyers would overcome "air pockets," would dis-
cover how to get out of a tail spin, would remain in the air
longer and longer, and would add new stunts to the art
of "aerobatics". Speeds have risen until racing planes
are able to travel faster than did cannon balls at the time
of the Civil War; the altitude record has reached 40,000
feet, and the Atlantic Ocean has been taken at a single
bound; lateral and longitudinal stability have been real-
ized; over a dozen passengers are carried in Pullman com-
fort and night flying is a commonplace. As to safety, the
number of miles flown per accident is one-and-a-half times
around the earth, and the United States Postal Service
planes flew more than 1,700,000 miles in a year without the
loss of a single life. "I would rather ride in an airplane
any time," declared Major Schroeder, "than to cross Fifth
Avenue afoot, or stand near the east end of a westbound
mule." In support of this comparison he called attention

224

Certifying Aircraft and Pilots

to the fact that out of thirty-eight airmen who were killed
in a year, thirty lost their lives through "stunt flying,"
while eight persons were said to have been killed by mule
kick during the same year.

Outside of taking unnecessary chances, the greatest
cause of aviation accidents is that of unforeseen and un-
controllable conditions, such as the arch enemy of aviation
— fog. Nevertheless there are accidents due to faults in
design and construction, workmanship and maintenance,
which are being discovered little by little. These are
engineering factors and come within the natural field of
the Laboratories, which performs two distinct services,
under the headings of Registration and Certification.

Registration does mean more than the mere assigning of
a serial number in conformity with the International Con-
vention system, though this is the best-known part of it,
and the familiar letters are visible from considerable dis-
tances; the applicant must also furnish general informa-
tion and details which have an important bearing on many
phases of insurance. Some of these items appear in the
registration certificate reproduced on page 257.

Certification of Airworthiness^ on the other hand, is
based on a thorough inspection and flight test of the
machine itself. A few words of explanation are here
necessary :

The two principal recognized hazards in this connection
are collision and fire.

225

A Symbol of Safety

Perhaps the most serious cause of fire accidents is the
back-fire, which most frequently occurs in descent, when
the pilot shuts off the engine in order to volplane down to
the landing field. When several hundred feet above the
ground, the pilot opens the throttle, there may be a back-
fire because of the cold engine and this may ignite the ac-
cumulation of gasolene and oil drippings.

Other fires are caused by faulty design in electrical
equipment and gasolene system, as in the case of auto-
mobiles, but with the difference that a plane may assume
positions that will cause gasolene and oil to drip — as some
people who have flown in their *'good clothes" are likely
to recall.

This also is true with regard to crashes and other acci-
dents from "loss of control". The aircraft itself — fuse-
lage, wings, ailerons and rudders — has been brought to a
high state of development; and so has the internal com-
bustion engine; but many other things are needed: a cool-
ing system, a fuel supply system, a carburetor, an ignition
system, a lubrication system, a number of instruments
and an intricate set of controls. Therein lie the principal
hazards, and Underwriters' Laboratories is already taking
important steps in this direction.

All of the hazard factors, and the safety elements of that
complicated mechanism, the modern airplane, are investi-
gated with the usual thoroughness of the engineers who

will take nothing for granted and who reach their conclu-

226

Certifying Aircraft and Pilots

"G^-I&cV

lAJED SA

SAFE LOAD
LB.

,«<!<»«!S^«w«^"^

^■^ KgiionHlSoadiilSlffllnacaDiilns

MAXIMUM NUMBER OF
PASSENGERS INCLUOma

> •THKBT, OI1CA09

bsued to-

Airworthiness Certificate

YIHCEim ASTOR a^^,,., ^5 W» 26th ST. .M.Y.Clty.

SIhtS (EprtifipB that the Aircraft described below has been inspected and found

Airworthy for daylight flying on ACT OVEB WATER OMLY

For the Flying Season of. 1 P ? ?- y<^^-<- ■""• -"'fc-" '! "V"«.>icJir c.-«.u.j tdio^ta,

Ctrtlficatt No._(J

Dau of iMue JULY 51 1

_1922.»

3ERWRITERS" LAB<mA1
By ^I-V5^'^>»'

iTORIES. Ire.

NltKHIllltlr •»< RxiltnOon Mark-

_ DESCRItnON OF I

REGISTERH) AmCRAFT

., , PRIVATE WATER AIRCBAFT

-H..i,V u.uJ .u.ion: .. PORT WASHTNCTON, T.. T. P.Y.

>l«r'. T«« No

Number oi Pertons to be cerricd ^_

^. lOEHIHG AEHO. EHGR. CORg.,

o..,.uun^K go FT. 5 IH^, 3^ 42 FT. 6 IH,.
D..di«d_2700 ,k. P..„.^. 4100

Air Speed.
Enllnea! T>pe.

MuUmtim Piy Load Altoved. Indudlnf Crew.

23-E

Hel|l<l <

8 FC.

-lb.

1400

Uaelul Load-
-Feet. Rsdiua Full Throttle Hr..

Maximun) Aerodi

130 MPR Service CeU,„.__2O^O0O_

LIBERTY IL k...,..„, ONE ..^..^^„. U.S. 322SQ

5 . 000 ,... , ., ,„ MAJ. J.W.JONES „... JULY 7. 1922.

-Feet. Inspecied bjr-

Underwriters' Laboratories' Airworthiness Certificate No. 3, is-
sued to Mr. Vincent Astor, is the first airworthiness certificate
to be released for a privately owned and operated seaplane.

sions after considering hundreds of separate items in
twenty-seven different groups.

Such investigation is followed by the flight test itself
and this is the point where theory is checked against ac-
tual performance, for the plane is sent up to prove its
proficiency in the sky. Now the machine is taken into
the field, loaded up to its full rated capacity; the engine is
warmed up, the propeller begins to whir, and soon the
artificial bird is a diminishing spot against the sky. In

227

A Symbol of Safety

technical jargon, the plane has a rated service "ceiling,"
which means the measure of the height at which the "rate
of climb" diminishes to one hundred feet per minute. The
test climb is one against time, to about one-third of this
distance, with various kinds of observations being taken
at every i,ooofeet; then the plane is brought down to a
height of i,ooo feet above the ground and flown "full out"
for ten minutes, with many observations being taken.

It is because this entire work is in process of develop-
ment that the Certificate of Airworthiness is not based on
inflexible requirements, except in so far as certain items
and principles have been formulated in standards and
recognized by official bodies. One of these is the National
Safety Council, of which the sub-committee on planes and
engines is headed by an officer of the Laboratories.

Completely assembled airplanes are classified by the
Laboratories according to type, design, equipment, ability
in operation and facilities and practices of manufacturer.
For several years, production will not warrant the replace-
ment of certificates by labels, but this development is
bound to come. As a matter of fact, the operation of the
inspection system leading to the issuance of Airworthiness
Certificates is along the lines of the Laboratories' work on
many other products, though the "label" is issued to the
owner instead of to the manufacturer, and is not affixed at
the factory, but at some aviation center where the Labo-
ratories is represented by a resident aviation engineer —

228

Certifying Aircraft and Pilots

always an expert of high standing. This engineer issues
only a Temporary Certificate of Airworthiness. The final
certificate is later sent from Chicago after the data have
been carefully analyzed, checked up and compared with
other information there on file.

Materials and Devices. As in the case of the automobile
industry, the use of materials, accessories, fittings, etc.,
which have been listed by the Laboratories after appropri-
ate examinations and tests is of great usefulness. This work
was begun simultaneously with that on assembled aircraft,
and has so progressed that it is contemplated to issue a spe-
cial List of these many materials and appliances before 1924.

To illustrate the practical application of the Laborator-
ies' work in aeronautics: a famous aviator attempted a
much-advertised long-distance flight in the summer of 1922,
but fell and wrecked his plane at a midway point. His own
skill was beyond question, but it happened that his machine
had been inspected prior to the flight by engineers of the
Laboratories, who found it mechanically sub-standard, ad-
vised him not to use it in the intended flight and wired their
conclusions to the insurance company to which application
had been made for a policy; in fact, the plane in question
was definitely refused registration by the Laboratories.

J. Pilots

What the soul is to the body, so is the pilot to the

airplane. The machine is an extension of the man, re-

229

A Symbol of Safety

sponsive to his slightest motions. The art of flight,
therefore, requires first of all the ability to control and
coordinate the movements of hands and feet; the novice
must think out these movements, but with the expert
pilot they become so instinctive that he has but to wish
his airplane to perform an evolution for it to occur. To
know what to wish, the pilot must rely upon his senses,
which must be acute at all times, even after a long and
fatiguing flight. This requires the kind of endurance
that comes only with excellent lungs and heart action
and good abdominal tone. An aviator must have quick
perception and judgment in order to be able to meet
sudden emergencies. The strain of flying and the eflfect
of high altitude tell on the nervous system in particular.
During the war, some of the most athletic pilots, who easily
passed purely physical tests, quickly broke down, even in
home service.

To classify and label men — this, in effect, was the request
of the National Aircraft Underwriters' Association in
proposing that the Laboratories become custodian of the
official Register of Aircraft Pilots (other than government
pilots) and take full charge of all details connected there-
with. And when Association members pledged them-
selves to recognize the Laboratories' certificates as a
condition of their policies and the various aero clubs and
other official bpdies approved the idea, the Laboratories
undertook this branch of the work on July i, 1921.

230

Certifying Aircraft and Pilots

Fortunately, there were plenty of data on the subject.
Likewise, there were thousands of trained pilots throughout
the country, for at the time of the Armistice there were
7,1 18 qualified flying officers in the United States and
4,307 overseas. It naturally was decided that former
Army and Navy flyers were entitled to registration, pro-
vided that they complied with certain conditions, the most
important of which was to have flown recently, and also
that they be in good condition physically and mentally
at the time of their application. But new candidates
are constantly appearing, men without war experience,
and these men also required to be tested and approved.

There are schools which claim to educate students to
become airplane pilots, but do not have any preliminary
requirements as to the applicant's fitness to receive in-
struction. The diploma of such schools is not a sufficient
safeguard. Underwriters' Laboratories occasionally is
compelled to refuse certificates to applicants who have
been ''passed" by schools of this type.

A successful pilot is both "born" and "made." There
are many things for him to learn before he can be permit-
ted to carry trusting passengers through the upper levels,
and his instruction must be thorough and practical;
but the starting point — the man himself — is the most
important factor. It is only the exceptional man who has
the capacity for acquiring the art — the man of clear head,
quick eye, keen perceptions, natural resourcefulness and

A Symbol of Safety

lightning-like coordination. Ingenious and practical tests
to determine these faculties were worked out and employ-
ed by government authorities during the war and their
methods are followed by Underwriters' Laboratories.

The medical and surgical examination of new applicants
is required to be strict, and examining physicians are
reminded that applicants will be ''responsible in an excep-
tional degree for the safety of life and property of others. '*

Eyesight is the most important of the senses for pilots.
All birds have keen sight and can readily estimate dis-
tances. Birdmen are helpless without good eyes. There
was one pilot whose only failing was that he could not land
smoothly; it was discovered that he had an artificial right
eye which made it difficult for him to judge distance from
the ground. Slight visual defects may prove fatal.

Almost as important is acuteness of perception of sensa-
tion from the skin and muscles. The experienced pilot
flies by the "feel" of his machine, of his controls, of his
seat and of the wind on his face.

The pilot's hearing must be good and susceptible of
training, because he Is constantly listening to the singing of
the wind in the wires, to the sound of the engine, the roar of
the exhaust and the hum of the propeller. He also may
be required to use a telephone or to operate a wireless.

Swiftness of reaction is essential, and various tests have
been designed, such as that oi simultaneously maintaining

the pitch of hum of a motor by a foot control despite the

232

Certifying Aircraft and Pilots

efforts of someone else to alter it, maintaining the pointer
of an ammeter at a given point by means of a rheostat
worked by the left hand and touching with the right
hand the proper button controlling one of a number of
lamps which are successively and unexpectedly lighted.
During such tests, the applicant is at first allowed to
breathe normally, and then his nostrils are closed and he is
made to breathe through a mouthpiece from a "re-
breather" tank, by means of which, as the oxygen becomes
exhausted, there are reproduced some of the difficulties
of breathing at high altitudes. In this way candidates
are sometimes taken to "altitudes" of 30,000 feet or even
higher. It is always noticed that the candidate's senses
become sluggish and his motions unconsciously grow slow-
er, as the proportion of oxygen grows less.

Registration of pilots expires after one year, but may
expire earlier if more than ninety days elapse without
flying. " It may be cancelled or suspended at any time for
cause and is automatically suspended following a crash
involving insurance loss pending inquiry."

9ic 4: 4:

Thus the day has arrived when "Darius Green and his
flying machine" are no longer a standing joke, for the
traveler may now navigate the air with as much assurance
as he may ride upon the seven seas. Indeed, the proce-
dure is much the same, for he now is able to purchase a

A Symbol of Safety

registered aircraft, to have its condition inspected and
certified by an adequate authority, to have it flown by a
registered pilot whose rating has been certified for the sea-
son, and to protect his property by an insurance policy.
In all these respects, Underwriters* Laboratories is
effectually aiding an art and an industry, yet in their
infancy, but with promise of an immeasurable future.

234

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Underwriters* Laboratories and Human Welfare

IN THE foregoing pages an attempt has been made
to set forth the origin and work of a dynamic in-
stitution whose activities reach beyond its industrial
contacts and affect the safety of millions of people. Born
out of necessity it has grown without promotion and in
an inevitable sort of way that proves how essential it has
become to human welfare.

The industrial contacts of Underwriters' Laboratories
are naturally the more immediate and in these its relations
are decidedly unique. It is an unofficial body; it is backed
by no legislation, yet it has become almost an integral part
of many industries. This is shown by the following
figures giving the number of appliances which have been
examined and tested and are covered by the current lists:

Electrical goods SA^S

Building materials Ij585

Fire-fighting equipment 793

Devices related to hazardous substances . 2,410

Burglary protection systems ... 67

Automobiles and automotive goods . . 680

Miscellaneous 309

'^3S

A Symbol of Safety

To these may be added thousands of earlier types tested
in preceding years.

In many of these fields its operations are large, as ap-
pears in the growth of its label service from fifty million
in 191 5 to more than five hundred million in 1922. Yet
the Laboratories has no commercial motive, makes no
profits and maintains no sales department. All its re-
lations are voluntary. The fact that so large a number of
manufacturers are seeking its services is due to the quality
of the services themselves.

This statement is the keynote of the institution. A
visitor is struck with the absolutely impersonal nature of
the work. Manufacturers do not exist as individuals while
their products are under scrutiny. All are met on the same
basis. No one is favored; no one is slighted. The work is
not to be unduly hurried no matter how impatient a pro-
ducer may be. It goes forward with steady, intent
thoroughness until every essential fact has been determin-
ed and recorded. Then, and then only, is the rating
given and the label awarded.

As a result, the labels of Underwriters* Laboratories
mean something. They are recognized as incontrovertible
evidence that the goods which bear them really possess
the qualities of their rating. This explains why the ser-
vice has been sought so extensively in the industrial world.

Some indication has already been given of the manner
in which the Laboratories operates. It has been shown

236

Underwriters' Laboratories and Human Welfare

that its activities originally were inspired by the need of
insurance companies for exact knowledge as to many of the
elements of hazard that must be taken into account in
underwriting. This need has led to the fixing of various
standards of safety concerning the thousands of products
that are related to fire prevention and fire protection
and, more recently, to casualty prevention, burglary pre-
vention and automotive and aeronautical safety.

Such action has been a matter of the largest financial
necessity. The total volume of insurance in force in these
fields exceeds one hundred billion dollars — an unthinkable
sum, yet one that is represented by many millions of
separate business contracts. This insurance must be
based on an understanding of risks, otherwise underwriting
would be a mere gambling venture, short-lived and unre-
liable rather than the great foundation of credit and sup-
porter of all prosperity that It is today. But risks cannot
be guessed at; they include many physical elements which
require scientific determination since they are at the heart
of the underwriting process.

This insistent need has resulted in the creation of Under-
writers' Laboratories and caused its growth into field after
field. No bias could be allowed to color its judgments.
Hence the motive of profit was rigidly excluded and the
charges of the institution were put upon the basis of the
expenses of each test, plus a pro-rata ^share of overhead.

Similarly, there must be no ground for challenging its

237

A Symbol of Safety

findings as to thoroughness and accuracy. This situation
was met, as has already been told, by assembling a staff
of highly qualified technical experts equipped with testing
facilities so extensive as to be a revelation to the uniniti-
ated. The system of inspection conducted in thousands
of individual factories has supplemented the laboratory
tests and the labels of the Laboratories have certified its
ratings to the general public as well as to the insurance
companies. These latter, thereupon, have made them the
basis for the assumption of enormous financial obligations.
They have backed the findings of the Laboratories on an
almost incredible scale.

Thus has come about a strange yet logical paradox —
the operations of an entirely non-commercial institution in
behalf of a great business interest.

It is significant that these operations have assumed a
definitely public service character; and herein is another
paradox, that of the altruistic efect of a selfish motive. It
is not denied that the insurance companies have a direct
financial stake since they must determine the exact ele-
ments of hazard upon which equitable premium rates
are to be based — a matter of concern to the public as well
as to the companies. This is a natural motive; indeed
had there not been such a motive the work of the Labora-
tories would have been short lived.

It chances, furthermore, that the study of hazard in-
volves that of safety — the two are inseparable — and that

238

Underwriters'' Laboratories and Hu7nan Welfare

the safety thus considered is that of the public, whose wel-
fare and that of the companies thereby become identical.
It is easy, therefore, to picture the individual engineer at
his testing apparatus; forgetful of producer, dealer, pur-
chaser or insurer, forgetful of everything except the partic-
ular article under test, and, behind him, the thousands
of towns and the millions of homes and individuals whose
security is being conserved by every step that is taken,
the insurance organizations whose resources are at stake,
the manufacturing plant whoseproduct is being scrutinized
and, finally, the great army of operatives, salesmen and
dealers whose activities are thereby affected.

In carrying out this work, Underwriters' Laboratories
naturally has come into close relations with many organi-
zations and individuals, among which are:

The Director of the United States Bureau of Stand-
ards, the Director of the United States Bureau of Mines,
committeemen designated by the American Society for
Testing Materials, the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers,
the Society of Automotive Engineers, the National Fire
Protection Association which is composed of more than
a hundred societies and official bureaus, the National Auto-
mobile Underwriters' Conference, the National Board of
Fire Underwriters and its many bureaus and sub-divi-
sions, the Fire Marshals' Association of North America, the
International Association of Fire Engineers, the National

239

A Symbol oj Safety

Safety Council, the American Society of Safety Engineers,
the American Institute of Architects, the Associated
Manufacturers of Electrical Supplies, the Manufacturers*
Council, the National Association of Manufacturers, the
Chamber of Commerce of the United States, the City
Managers* Association, the National Gas Engine Associa-
tion, the Canadian Electric Railway Association, the
Fire Extinguisher Exchange, the Rubber Association of
America, the American Engineering Standards Commit-
tee, the Department of Commerce of the United States,
many other federal, state and municipal governmental
bureaus and departments, many commissions appointed
by governors and mayors, and a number of industrial
bodies such as the Electrical Manufacturers' Council, the
National Lumber Manufacturers* Association, the Hollow
Tile Association, the National Automatic Sprinkler Asso-
ciation, the Safe and Vault Manufacturers' Association,
the American Concrete Institute, the Portland Cement
Association, the National Association of Steel Furniture
Manufacturers and the Associated Metal Lath Manu-
facturers.

These relations involve cooperation; sometimes in pro-
mulgating safety standards, as with the National Fire
Protection Association; sometimes in applying the findings
to towns or to buildings, as with the engineering com-
mittees of the National Board of Fire Underwriters and
many local underwriting organizations; sometimes in

240

Underwriters' Laboratories and Human Welfare

reviewing the reports of tests, and the ratings resulting
therefrom, as with the industrial and professional advisory
committees already discussed, and, occasionally, in the
investigation of fundamental scientific laws, as with certain
of the professional associations and societies.

Brief successiveglimpses havenow been taken of the work
of the different departments, although each in itself might
furnish material for volumes, and the merest suggestion
has been offered as to ways in which these departments
severally affect the industries whose products they ex-
amine. But truest impressions are gained when Under-
writers' Laboratories is viewed not as an assemblage of
units but as a complete institution — compact and homo-
geneous. This, in truth, it is, for it came into being
from one cause, operates along standardized lines and
exerts its influence to one general end. In this unified
sense the influence of the institution already has become
incalculable and has made its way into all of the indus-
tries affected.

Instances of misunderstanding have been many. Cases

of opposition have not been wanting. In not a few

cases, manufacturers or groups of manufacturers have

shown at first a perfectly natural resentment that an

outside organization should appear to dictate standards

that they would be required to follow if their products

were to enjoy sales opportunities in many fields. It has

been the subject of heated discussion in meetings and in the

241

A Symbol of Safety

editorial columns of trade publications, but all this has,
in the long run, proved of advantage, in that it has served
to fix attention on facts that needed only to be understood
to be approved.

Following such resistance, the industries in question
have grown gradually into a better appreciation of the
Laboratories' work. They have come to see that it
assumes no authority but that which is inherent in the
facts with which it deals. Its rating of a product neither
endows that product with qualities nor deprives it of any,
but merely ascertains and registers those qualities which
are given it by its own manufacturer. Just as the diploma
of a university is not a gift from the president but a token
of achievement on the part of the student, so the labeled
product has an inherent right to its label; the product wins
this right and the Laboratories determines and certifies-
that is the essential distinction.

It follows that wherever a producer is willing to comply
with certain minimum and entirely reasonable standards
there is no question as to his receiving the evidence of
recognition as soon as his compliance has been made
manifest. It also follows that any opposition to the tests
is sometimes regarded by outsiders as indicating his dis-
trust of his own product.

Furthermore, since the tests of Underwriters' Labora-
tories have a bearing on the question of human safety, ■
such a manufacturer may find himself in the difficult

242

Underwriters' Laboratories and Human Welfare

position of appearing unwilling to comply with necessary-
standards of safety while offering to the public goods that
may be unworthy of complete trust. This, of course, is
sometimes the case. Sub-standard goods can be made
and sold below the prices of honest products, and the better
grade of manufacturers are coming more and more to
realize that the certificate of quality (in relation to safety)
implied in each label is a protection to the industry as
well as to the public. So well is this now appreciated that,
if the underwriters were to lose their interest in the work
of the Laboratories, many manufacturers would still wish
its continuance as a matter of industrial health, as a tonic
to their production departments, as an incentive to
maintenance of high standards and as a counter-check on
their own inspectors.

The relation of the institution to retailers, contractors
and officials already has been indicated, but there are two
lines of special influence that deserve a word of discussion.

The first of these is its potential effect on the architec-
tural profession. As is well known, America's per capita
fire loss is many times that of Europe. This is due in
part to the higher average of carelessness in this country
and to the greater employment of hazardous devices and
materials, but it also is largely due to the greater com-
bustibility of building construction in the United States.
Making all due allowance for the inevitable employment
of frame construction it still is true that the many ways

243

A Symbol of Safety

in which combustibility can be reduced are worthy of
the largest attention on the part of architects.

Architecture is one of the fine arts in its esthetic appeal
and many architects are so intent upon the beauty and
convenience of their designs as to underestimate the fire
hazard sometimes inherent in their finest effects. While
some leaders of the profession are whole-hearted advocates
of fire-safe construction, it still is true that many of the
rank and file are not yet aroused to a consciousness of its
importance. In a sense, the architects of America are
responsible for its buildings — even for that large percent-
age in which an architect was not employed, since the
natural leadership in the field is theirs. If every architect
should familiarize himself with the results of the investiga-
tions made by Underwriters' Laboratories as to structural
materials, fire-fighting equipment, electrical materials and
other related subjects, it could not fail to exert an impor-
tant influence on the safety of American communities.

Another field of influence is that of scientific and tech-
nical education. Most institutions of higher learning are
equipped for laboratory work of various kinds but these,
in the past, have devoted far more attention to abstract
than to applied science. The practical application of
scientific knowledge to problems of public safety found in
the investigations of Underwriters' Laboratories is sug-
gestive of a large field of indirect helpfulness to schools and
colleges. An admirable example of this relationship al-

244

Underwriters' Laboratories and Human Welfare

ready exists with regard to some classes of the Armour
Institute of Technology.

Furthermore, the comparatively new profession of fire-
prevention engineering is now engaging the attention of
an increasing number of students. Conservation of all
kinds is so importantly related to national prosperity that
everything tending to reduce hazard and diminish loss
enjoys a status almost unknown a generation ago.

The promotion of conservation is becoming more and
more a professional matter in that it involves the formula-
tion of methods that have approved themselves in prac-
tice, and among all the branches of conservation, few have
reached a stage of development comparable to that of fire
prevention. It has already come about that fire-preven-
tion engineers, as such, are employed in industrial and
public service concerns as well as by underwriting organ-
izations; and the day may not be far distant when fire-
prevention engineers will be attached to all leading archi-
tects' offices. Underwriters' Laboratories already has
graduated members of its staff into outside positions of
responsibility, and its studies are contributing materially
to the development of this new profession. However, the
influence of the Laboratories in underwriting, industrial,
architectural, commercial, educational and engineering
fields is, after all, collateral to its most important function
which is that of increasing the safety of the public.

People live in houses; these houses may be covered with

245

A Symbol oj Safety

combustible or with fire-resistive roofings; they may be
equipped with safeguarded or with hazardous lighting and
heating installations; they may be constructed of materials
and in a manner to protect the lives of the occupants or to
invite disaster. People, millions of them, are employed
in factories where they come in contact with countless
industrial processes that may be made either dangerous
or harmless. People ride in automobiles. People are
preyed upon by the tens of thousands of cracksmen who
infest the country and, in defense, place their reliance in
locks and alarms. People, in short, during almost every
hour of their lives, consciously or unconsciously are in-
volved in some of the hundreds of safety problems for
whose solution Underwriters' Laboratories exists and whose
magnitude is implied in its issue of more than 500,000,000
labels in a single year. In spite of the multiplicity of
disasters that seem to be the product of our crowded mod-
ern life, no unprejudiced student can escape the conclusion
that life and property in America are, even now, far safer
than would have been the case had not this institution
devoted its powers upon so large a scale to the reduction
of human hazard.

Even now, this effect is appreciable but, in a peculiar
degree, the work which produces it is related to the future
rather than to the present or the past. Civilization is not
static; the processes of change were never so swift nor di-
verse. Material conditions no longer are reckoned in

246

Underwriters' Laboratories and Human Welfare

centuries or even in decades— they are transformed in
years. Everywhere apphed science is opening new vistas
of production, transportation and communication; every-
where man is being supphed with new resources and, as a
natural corollary, is being menaced by new perils.

With humanity ceaselessly discarding its past and
plunging forward into the uncertainties of its future, it
is reassuring to note the steady progress of an organization
whose protective influence entitles it to be regarded as a
symbol of safety.

THE END

247

APPENDIX I

Details About Labels

Of the thousands of different labels issued
by the Laboratories, the least costly are those
for hundred-foot lengths of flexible cord, fixture
wire, etc., which come at one-half cent. The
other extreme is the label for stationary fire
extmguishers. the price of which is S7.50. But
except in rare cases, and then only because of
limited production, the cost of the label is less
than one per cent, oj the product's price.

Labels come in a great variety of sizes, shapes
and colors; and metals, cloth, paper and other
materials are used, as well as the decalcomania
process, which is growing in popularity among
subscribers. The most decorative labels,
taken as a group, are those for automobile
locks: they are combination labels, including
the manufacturer's name and address, and
other data together with the usual Laboratories'
wording and number, and are of etched alumin-
um in the form of rings, stars and other artistic
shapes. A manufacturer of electric sen.'ice
entrance cabinets which have wiring diagrams
pasted inside the cover combined the label with
these and their checking is successfully done
through the printer. A similar arrangement
was agreed to in the case of a roofing manufac-
turer, the label being made a part of the
wrapper. As to matches, everyone knows that
the Laboratories' label is included in the paper
covering of the box.

Some labels include a brief paragraph
cautioning the user as to the handling of the
appliances, as in the case of moving picture
machines, tanks and other devices for hazard-

ous fluids, flame-proofed cotton bales, etc.
Labels used for wire, conduit, tubing and other
goods sold by the length come in various
denominations, such as one hundred feet, one
thousand feet, and intermediate denominations.
A similar system is used in the case of fire ex-
tinguishers and other devices which come in
various sizes, and in electric signs — this label
coming in twelve denominations according to
the number of lamps. The proper location for
certain devices is mentioned on their labels, as
in the case of fire doors or shutters " for opening
in verticalshaft," "for opening in exterior wall,"
etc., which avoids arguments with municipal
and insurance inspection authorities.

It is sometimes provided that instead of the
use of a separate label, the words "Under-
writers' Laboratories" and "Inspected" or
"INSP" may be stamped, cast or moulded
in the article. This variation is covered by the
''Die Label Service Agreement,^ and has
proved convenient to many manufacturers.

Finally, a few words as to the benefits of the
combination label: The manufacturer has the
advantage of using his own design; the Labora-
tories, ordering hundreds of millions of labels
every year, is able to get lowest prices from
etching or stamping companies; and above all
the manufacturer gets the full advantage of the
Laboratories' factory inspection service because
he usually gets one hundred per cent, of his
product labeled, which tends to do away with
complications such as "seconds.".

APPENDIX II

Underwriters' Laboratories and Instruction
in Fire Protection Engineering

INSL-RANCE interests in 1903 caused the insti-
tution of a course in Fire Protection Engineer-
ing, because of the growing necessity for such
instruction, and the growing need of high-grade
men with more than a smattering of knowledge.
They chose Chicago because of the presence of
Underwriters' Laboratories; and Armour In-
stitute for various good reasons. This com-
bination of Armour Institute and the Labora-
tories provides unique facilities and opportuni-
ties for observation unobtainable anywhere else
in the world. The students often see and test
many devices in the experimental stage, some of
which never are actually put on the market.
The course lasts four years and leads to the
degree of Bachelor of Science in Fire Protection
Engineering. After three years of post-
graduate work of a practical nature in connec-
tion with fire protection engineering — such
as work in the Laboratories — and after sub-

mitting the usual appropriate thesis, the degree
of Fire Protection Engineer is conferred by-
Armour Institute.

Every year the Western Actuarial Bureau
awards twenty-five four-year scholarships
for this course, so that there are always one
hundred F. P. E. students thanks to this ar-
rangement alone.

The Institute and the Laboratories cooperate
constantly. For instance, during the school year
Prof. Finnegan and Mr. O. L. Robinson divide
their time between the Institute and the
Laboratories. During the past seventeen
years there have been five specialists thus
jointly on the staffs of the Institute and the
Laboratories.
Demonstraliona

Besides this direct instruction work, the
Laboratories advances the state of knowledge
through frequent demonstrations and pro-

249

A Syjnbol of Safety

Kranv of tests arraneed to coincide with the
visits of members of societies holding conven-
tions in Chicago, or making special trips to
Chicago for the purpose of witnessing demon-
strations and hearing lectures. Although this is
only a side-line of activity on the part of the
Laboratories it has grown to considerable
proportions.

Thus, in the space of a little over one year,
fifteen societies visited the Laboratories in a
body, and in addition there were 236 individual
members of societies, who came in smaller groups
or even singly. This is not counting govern-
ment, state, municipal and other public officials,
thirty-eight of whom made special visits in that
time, nor professors and students from in-
stitutions other than Armour Institute, who

numbered respectively twenty-three and 3P6,
and came from fourteen schools, conegcs and
universities.

Visitors Welcomed

Underwriters' Laboratories is always open
to all visitors during office hours, one or more
members of the staff always being available to
conduct interested individuals or parties
through the plant. In the period just referred
to there were in addition to the officials,
students, and others listed, eighty-seven
miscellaneous visitors, not one of whom did
not receive individual attention.

Of course, these figures do not include the
thousands of business callers. They refer
strictly to visitors coming to learn.

APPENDIX III

Standard Specifications for Fire Tests and Classification
of Building Materials and Construction

Originally used for the control of fire tests
at Underwriters' Laboratories and the U. S.
Bureau of Standards, these specifications were
formally endorsed by the American Society for
Testing Materials, American Society of Mechan-
ical Engineers, American Concrete Institute,
National Board of Fire Underwriters and As-
sociated Factory Mutual Insurance Companies,
and then printed and circulated among the

130-odd member societies of the National
Fire Protection Association, meeting with
practically unanimous approval.

The basis of the Specifications is the American
Standard Time-Temperature Control Curve.

The universal endorsement of these Speci-
fications means that fire tests conducted in any
part of the country according to them will
receive recognition by authoritative bodies.

1 2400 — 1

— '

OO —

Standard
Time-Temperature
Control Curve
for Fire Tests

• (b 6
(i) 6

<5|

00 —
OO —

Time
J 1 ^

hours
5

(

250

Appendix III

" Incidentally, " states the N. F. P. A., " it will
be of financial advantage to the p>erson or
company having a test made."

The Specifications are published in pamphlet
form by the N. F. P. A. Following is a sum-
marized form:

Control of Fire Tests

The conduct of fire tests of materials and
construction shall be controlled by the Standard
Time-Temp)erature Control Curve.

The temperature fixed by the curve shall be
deemed to be the average true temperature of
the furnace gases as obtained from the readings
of not less that three thermo-couples sym-
metrically disposed to show the temperature
of the gases near all parts of the sample.

The temperatures shall be read at intervals
not exceeding five minutes during the first
hour, and thereafter not exceeding 15 minutes.

Classification as Determined by Test

Fire-resistive materials and construction shall
be classified according to the degree of protec-
tion they afford when measured by a standard
fire test, as

4 hour protection

2 hour protection

1 hour protection

i hour protection

i hour protection
Other classes may be interpolated or added as
needed.

Test Samples

The material or construction constituting the
test sample shall be truly representative of
regular practice.

Conduct of Tests

The fire test on the sample with itsapplied load,
if any, shall be continued until failure occurs
or until it has withstood the test conditions for
a period equal to one and one-fourth times that
for which classification is desired.

A second test with duplicate sample shall be
made to determine the effect of a hose stream
upon a sample under fire test, the water being
applied at the end of a period equal to three-
fourths of that for which classification is
desired, but not later than one hour after the
beginning of the test.

For classification periods of one-half hour
or less the fire stream test may be omitted.

(The size of nozzle, water pressure, time of
water application, changes in direction, etc., for
floors, roofs, walls, columns and partitions, are
given in the Specifications.)

For any material or construction intended
to carry load other than its own weight the
full rated safe working load shall be applied
dunng the entire fire test, also during the fire
stream test. After completion of the fire stream
test, the sample shall be subjected to excess
loading as prescribed imder specifications for
the different structural parts.

Floor and Roof Tests

Sample to be of such a size that the minimum
span of the supporting beams of the floor arch
shall be twelve feet; and supporting beams and
girders shall have a clearance of at least eight
inches from the walls of the test structure.

Floor may be tested as soon after construction
as desired, but within forty days. Artificial
drying allowed.

If construction is to be plastered in practice,
sample shall be plastered in the same manner.

Floor shall be loaded in a manner to develop
in each member of the construction stresses
equal to the maximum safe working stress al-
lowed in the material of the member.

Test shall not be regarded as successful unless
following conditions are met:

(a) The floor or roof shall have sustained safe-
ly the full rated safe working load during the
fire test without passage of flame, for a period
equal to 1 i times that for which classification is
desired.

(b) The floor or roof shall have sustained
safely the full rated safe working load during the
firestream test without passage of flame, and
after its completion shall sustain a total load
equal to dead load plus 2^ times designated
live load.

Non-Bearing Partition Tests

Area of sample shall be not less than 100 sq.
ft. and no dimension less than 9-ft.

Temperatures on outer surface shall be read
by not less than five thermometers, sym-
metrically disposed and placed against surface
with bulbs protected against radiation of heat.

Test not regarded as successful unless follow-
ing conditions are met:

(a) Partition shall have withstood safely
the fire test for a period equal to li times that
for which classification is desired.

(b) Shall have withstood fire stream test as
prescribed.

(d) Temperature on outer surface during
fire period not to have exceeded 300° F.

(e) Partition shall not have warped, bulged
or disintegrated under action of fire or water
to such an extent as to be unsafe.

251

APPENDIX IV
Demerits and Periodic Summaries

In the chapter on "The SiRnificance of the
Label," it was stated that the label "does not
only mean that samples of the goods have been
tested once, but that year after year these goods
must continue to maintain their quality, or
they will forfeit their right to the label."

The maintenance of high standards is as-
sured by the Laboratories' follow-up service,
whether it employ labels, as in the Label Ser-
vice, or depend on other features, as in the
Inspection and Reexamination Services.

In several industries where the Label Service
is employed, the number of manufacturers is so
great, and their output is of such considerable
volume, that it is possible to make up tally sheets,
showing the relative standing of manufacturers
and analyzing in great detail the results of
factory inspections and tests, to the advantage
of the industry, and, naturally, of the using
public.

The Demerit System is a scientific method
of analyzing and interpreting the data furnished
by Label Service Department factory in-
spectors and by home office engineers who make
routine tests. While it is complicated, its
principal features are simple enough and will be
set forth one by one.

Demerils

This term is self-explanatory. A manufac-
turer, receiving a rejxjrt stating that his roofing
material, or electric wire, or whatever product
is under analysis, received 136 demerits during
a certain period, while the average for all
manufacturers of that product was 156, knows
that in a general way his record is better than
the average.

Demerit Factors

All products coming under the Demerit
System receive a number of tests. Some of
these are more important than others. There-
fore, failures under the important tests are
penalized by a greater number of demerits than
failure under others. For example, in the case of
a ready-to-lay roofing, failures under the item
"Saturation Tests at Factory" are penalized
several times more heavily that those under the
item "Flash Point of Lap Cement."

Critical Points

For every feature of the routine investigation
there is a definite "critical point," expressed in
percentage of failures under test. When this
percentage is exceeded, additional penalties are

imposed. For example, under saturation tests
of roofing, as mentioned above, the "critical
point" is six per cent.: should one manufactur-
er's roofing samples show five per cent, of failures
under this test during a given period, he would
receive thirty demerits; but if during the follow-
ing period his product fails in seven per cent,
of the tests, he will receive no less than forty-
eight demerits. In addition, the exceeding of
the critical point in any feature of the investi-
gation of any product is immediately called
to the attention of designated engineers, who
look into the matter and endeavor to help the
manufacturer to remedy the factory conditions
responsible for this bad showing.

Special Investigation Point

This is simply the point, expressed in demerits
imposed for given periods, at which the manu-
facturer is notified — generally by telegraph
— that he may no longer affix the Laboratories'
label to his product. As implied in the expres-
sion, a special investigation of the factory is
made, and it is a thorough one, designed to
discover the reasons why drastic action was
necessary — in other words the sjiecific factory
method conditions responsible for excessive
failures under test. Generally, the discovery
of these conditions makes their correction not
only feasible but easy; and all ends well, with
the resumption of Label Service.

Periodic Summaries

At stated intervals, all manufacturers in
industries where the Demerit System is employ-
ed receive tally sheets showing their relative
standing in comparison with their competitors.
A way has been found of telling them this with-
out violating the natural confidence of the
Laboratories' relations. Each plant is designat-
ed by a secret "key" letter. The entire Sum-
mary Sheet is sent to all who are concerned, but
each manufacturer is informed only of his own
"key," and even that is changed in each succes-
sive summary. Thus he may measure the
closeness of his approach to the "head of his
class", or bis danger of facing a special investi-
gation.

Therein lies the principal value of the whole
system: it serves to warn each manufacturer in
ample time, and by analyzing all reports it points
out accurately just what is the matter with the
products which have rolled up a large number of
demerits.

252

APPENDIX V
Special Forms of Service

DURIMG thirty years of growth it was natural
that there should have been many demands
upon Underwriters' Laboratories for extensions
and modifications of its service. Consequently
it has from time to time inaugurated various
forms, which space limitations prevent describ-
ing in detail.

For example, there is the inspection of in-
stallations, which has reached a high state of
development, especially in the fields of burglary
protection systems and lightning rod installa-
tions. A self-explanatory report — one of those
used in the latter field^is reproduced herewith.
These reports are filled out by the installers,
and on their reverse side there are printed in
summarized form the Laboratories' require-
ments, which are to be read by the owner or

occupant before countersigning. See also
Page 109 with reference to the correction of sub-
standard features.

Another form of service which must be men-
tioned is the utilization of the Laboratories'
unique facilities not only in equipment but in
persormel. This ranges from such notable
investigations as described in the Chapter on
Chemistry to simpler tests, examinations,
analyses, etc., reports or records of results of
which are furnished without comment or con-
clusions. Many clients regularly look to the
Laboratories for tests of materials, photo-
microscope service, calibration of steam, water,
air and gas pressure gages, calibration of
electrical instruments, determination of flash
points, etc., etc. All this work is done at cost.

Report on Installation of

LABELED

Lightning Rod Material

Date..3../£a...:9E2
Manufactured by. .Electra. LigUlalJli. Sai. .GOOT>aay.». Serial number of labels .?.*tS5".S

AemI bcSfUic tlu label of Uaikrwntcn' Laboratories

Name of owner of building Holy TPljlltJ- GhUTCh ^- •- -...-.

*' Aad pfwufflfe addresi^ ttnct or R. F. D.

Nearest R. R. station. . .£J,uon)1.1^4>0Uy,IU Direction .... _., . .Distance .^.... , Miles

Township . ..jj_,.... ;.-..._..... ..so.. County .Uc. Loan Slate . Illlnolfl

Description

Residence, bam, or other type Churclu.

Length -AiO' width ..6C'. height .^5-'.-!2.lO.'

Wood, brick, or stone construction. . . .BjJlCiC

Kind of Tool. 21ata .Roof ,. ii&tal.Oscii,

Slate materia] ol wbich roof ia i&adc

Is roof pitched or flat?.p.it.c'n©d ....,

Kind of rod erected. . i'lat .Rl'ujsa .OaWe..

Cable, tube or section rod

Kind of air terminals. .Sllor.t.P.OlJit.3 ....... ,

Kind and number of points. ..iQ» ._..•_...,

Is soil clay, sand or rock?. . . Clary »•. .^ •-.-.-. «. ..-

Are tall trees near building?. . .ILo«. ..distance.

Are telephone wires provided with lightning arrester?

Are metal fences or wires attached to building?. ^.Vq » . . . .

Are they properly grounded? . .i.j.»a.„„. ma.,„^,....

Construction

Kind of rod fastener. Brasa . Scr.eWfl . & . LeadS.* . .

Average height of points \H.

Average distance apart 20* •

iT.-f;

Are chimneys, gables, cupolas, ventilators or other projecting parts protected with points ?.,. . 3C0£l< .^

No. of ground rods. ..7. ....^...Are suiuble guards provided for rods subject to displacement?. .'Z9&- WOOd. .7 •'•—.>

Kiod

Depth

Ground No. 1..

:.Cround No. 2.

ATI ftrfiunfUn.T.H 10'

Which method of grounding is used?.Ca3?boa. .EleCitrocfe
Are ground rods down to permanent moisture?. .Xes*. • . .
If a trench is required, give depth and length

Tl»il U notificadoo that we insuUet] the systeiB of LigtKnini;
Rods oo the above building, using only material bearing the lab«b of
Underwriters' Laboratories, and that the information supplied in

Sisutirl o( ptr

I InuUtd Rods

You are requested to examine the installation and carcfally rea4
the above report and if in your opinion the information is correct
please sign below. Also give us the name of the Local I:
Afcnt insuring this property.

ATTEST OF MA.VUFACTURER:

We have checked the forego. njj statements and believe the
tame to be cortoiO, The roaierial was iniUUcd by our Agent.

THtt...^y.%... Signed. 4?.^W^m(.LJGHTNJMG-fiOU.Cd address

^^-

Signed
Kame of mstmnce agent

^-53

APPENDIX VI
Typical Labels

UNOERWRITCRS' lABORATDRIES. INC

RDQFING MATERIAL

CLASS A

ISSUE N*.

^UND.ERWRITERS- LABORATORIES, INC

. FIRE WINDOW FRAME N9 S.

UNDERWRfTERS" LABORATORIES

CLASS

NOCRwniTERS' LABORATORIES
MOTOR VEHICLE LOCK

UNDERWRITERS' LABORATORIES, Inc.

~k in:>P{cteo a

' LADDER '

UHIIUWRrmS'U)B0lttTt)RIE5
inaPKCTco

XHASTRttuomTNGwrnr

• ••VK I I

^UNDERWRITERS^
\LABORATORIESr

INSPECTED I
CONDUIT

UNDERWRITERS LABORATORIES. INC.

INSPECTED \

PORTABLE TANK FOR HAZARDOUS -FLUIDS.

THIS SPACE FOR

MANUFACTURER S NAME

AND DATA

WHEN COMBINATION LABEL

IS USED

CAUTION - WARNING

UNDERWRITERS' LABORATORIES. INC

k INSPECTED A

f AUTOMATIC FIRE DOOR RELEASE \

iNSPECTe"^'
ISCAFFOLDING DEVICE

?• TIME DETECTOR ,

uimoii:

STORE THIt

VAX. SEGRE.'

GATED FROM

UNTREATED COnON.

PROTECT FROM OTHER

DIRECT FIRE EXPOSURE

254

APPENDIX VII

Organization

Board of Directors

A. G. Dugan, Chicago, Chairman

F. C. Buswell New York

C. E. Dox Chicago

J. C. Harding Chicago

C. W. Higley Chicago

Ralph B. Ives Chicago

W. E. Mallalieu New York

John Marshall, Jr San Francisco

J. B. Morton Philadelphia

W. P. Robertson Chicago

O. E. Schaefer New York

H. A. Smith Hartford

W. H. Stevens Watertown, N. Y

Chas. R. Tuttle Chicago

W. H. Merrill, President Chicago

Officers

Chairman, A. G. Dugan, Chicago.
President, W. H. Merrill, Chicago.
Vice-President, Da-NA Pierce, New York.
Vice-President, A. R. S.mall, Chicago.
Secretary, D. B. ANDERSON, Chicago.
Treasurer, L. B. Headen, Chicago.

Technical Departments

Protection. Engineer, Fitzhugh Taylor;
Division Engineer, R. K. Porter; Associate
Engineer, J. B. Finnegan; Assistant Engineers,
M. J. O'Brien, C. H. Pierson, A. J. Steiner, C.
A. Menzel.

Hydraulic. Engineer, R. W. Hendricks;
Assistant Engineers, A. W. Claussen, O. L.
Robinson, E. L. Canman, E. P. Benjamin, H.
A. Woelffer.

Gases and Oils. Engineer, E. J. Smith;
Associate Engineer, C. R. Welborn; Assistant
Engineers, R. B. Soyez, H. L. Pagett, S. C.
Pinsler, G. M. Beard.

Chemistry. Chemical Engineer, A. H.
Nuckolls; General Assistant Chemical Engineer.
C. J. Krieger;' Assistant Chemical Engineer,

A. E. Maitre; Special Chemist, C. A. Tibbals;
Physical Chemist, A. F. Matson; Assistant
Chemist, F. A. Martin; Assistant Electro-
Chemical Engineer, D. T. Wright; Rubber
Chemist, H. F. Klemm; Assistant Laboratory
Chemists, A. M. Swanson, C. H. Eipert, R. L.
Roe; Chemical Mechanician, G. Rierenthaler.

Electricity and Signals. Associate Engineers,

B. H. Glover, R. B. Shepard;* Assistant
Electrical Engineers, R. M. Obergfell, E. C.
Goddard, C. W. Rulon,* F. F. Fleming.* R. T.
Andersen;* Assistant Engineer, E. P. Slack.*

Casualty (including Automotive and Burglary
Protection). Engineer, C. R. Ailing; Mechanical
Engineer, S. V. James; Associate Engineer,
H. B. Michael;* Assistant Engineers, N. R.
White, K. G. Leigh, F. C. Garrison. G. D. Bec-
ker, A. H. Bodenschatz, F. G. Coleman, R. S.
Keeler.

Aviation.
der.

Aviation Engineer, R. W. Schroe-

Label Service. Superintendent, C. R. D'Olive;
Chief Inspectors, H. G. Ufer. R. A. Woodcock;*
Reexamination Engineer, W. J. Sharkey;
Inspection Engineers, W. J. Alcock, E. A.
Riesenberger.* 8 assistants and about 250
inspectors.

Office and Plant

Secretary, D. B. Anderson; Treasurer, L. B.
Headen; General Agent, G. B. Muldaur; Assis-
tant Secretaries, G. T. Bunker, B. E. Blanch-
ard; Chief Clerk, N. S. Neal; Drafting and
Photography, H. E. Rapp; Plant Foreman, F.
Petersen.

(*) New York.

APPENDIX VIII
The Councils

If at the conclusion of the examination and
tests of a submitted device, system or material
by the engineers of Underwriters' Laboratories,
the results are such as to lead to a recommenda-
tion for its recognition and listing as standard,
such recommendation is made to one or more
of the Laboratories' Councils.

There are five Councils, officially designated
as Fire, Electrical. Casualty, Automobile and
Burglary Protection. These designations in-
dicate their respective scopes. Represented
in their membership are federal, state and
municipal governments and insurance organiza-
tions. The findings of the Laboratories'
engineers are thus submitted to the judgment
of men of wide field experience, whose impartial-
ity is assured by a provision excluding from

membership in any Council any official who
might in any way be personally interested in
the decisions for or against listing any device.
System or material.

Councils render their decisions by letter
ballots, mailed within a short time after every
member has received a complete report from the
engineers who conducted the investigations and
tests.

In the event of unfavorable action by Council,
or when the results of examinations and tests
are such that a product cannot be recommended
to Council for listing, no publicity is given in
any manner; the manufacturer however re-
ceives a detailed report, in which ceasons are
set forth.

^55

A Symbol of Safety

Fire Council

H. Foster Bain Washington. D. C.

Ceo. W. Cleveland Detroit, Mich.

Gorham Dana Boston. Mass.

W. F. Dunbar Atlanta, Ga.

H. H. Glidden Chicago, 111.

C. M. Goddard Boston. Mass.

C. O. Jost Montreal. Que.

C. A. Hexamer Philadelphia, Pa.

C. T. Ingalls Oklahoma City. Okla.

F. W. Jenness Syracuse. N. Y.

M. F. Jones Boston. Mass.

Geo. A. Madison St. Louis. Mo.

W. E. Mallalieu New York, N. Y.

W. H. Merrill Chicago, 111.

Louis Harding New York, N. Y.

J. C. Mc Laughern San Francisco, Calif.

Isaac Osgood Boston, Mass.

H. L. Philhps Hartford, Conn.

Benjamin Richards Chicago, 111.

W. O. Robb New York, N. Y.

E. M. Sellers Indianapolis, Ind.

T. B. Sellers Columbus, Ohio.

F. J. T. Stewart New York, N. Y.

C. C. Taylor Chicago, 111.

P. W. Terry St. Louis, Mo.

R. J. Trimble Pittsburgh, Pa.

L. Wiederhold, Jr Philadelphia, Pa.

A. R. Small Chicago, 111.

Casualty Council

L. L. Allen Nashville, Tenn.

H. Foster Bain Washington, D. C.

Lewis Bryant Trenton, N. J.

C. E. Connolly Oklahoma City, Okla.

R. J. Cullen New York, N. Y.

Byron Cummings New York, N. Y.

J. S. B. Davie Concord, N. H.

W. P. Eales Hartford, Conn.

R. H. Fletcher Lansing, Mich.

J. H. Garrett Boise, Idaho

Percy Gilbert Olympia, Wash.

C. H. Gram Salem, Ore.

R. H. Gunagan New York, N. Y.

R. S. Hayes Columbus, Ohio

F. A. Kennedy Lincoln, Neb.

F. W. Lawson Chicago, 111.

John C. McCabe Detroit, Mich.

W. H. Merrill Chicago, 111.

N. R. Moray Hartford, Conn.

Charles Nelson New York, N. Y.

Lew R. Palmer New York, N. Y.

R. H. Pearson New York, N. Y.

J. W. Rausch Baltimore, Md.

C. N. Smith Chicago, 111.

G. D. Smith Carson City, Nev.

A. E. Spriggs Helena, Mont.

E. L. Sweetser Boston, Mass.

A. L. Urick Des Moines, la.

D. Van Schaack Hartford, Conn.

J. V/alker Harrisburg, Pa.

A. W. Whitney New York, N. Y.

S. J. Williams Chicago, 111.

E. E. Witte Madison, Wis.

H. M. Wolfm San Francisco, Calif.

J. R. Young Raleigh, N. C.

Electrical Council

L. A. Barley Denver, Colo.

H. N. Beecher Los Angeles, Calif.

W. S. Boyd Chicago. 111.

F". R. Bradford Boston, Mass.

Walter J. Burke Boston, Mass.

F. A. Cambridge Winnipeg, Man.

M. E. Cheney Seattle, Wash.

B. W. Clark Detroit, Mich.

F. R. Daniel Milwaukee, Wis.

R. L. Daniel Minneapolis, Minn.

Washington Devereux. ... Philadelphia, Pa.

F. O. Evertz Columbus, O.

J. H. Fenton St. Louis, Mo.

J. C. Forsyth New York, N. Y.

0. M. Frykman Minneapolis, Minn.

M. B. Gleeson Philadelphia, Pa.

B. H. Glover Chicago, 111.

Warren Hadley Washington, D. C.

E. C. Waud Buffalo, N. Y.

D. M. Hosford Cleveland, O.

W. B. HubbeU Cincinnati, O.

L. C. Ilsley Pittsburgh, Pa.

W. W. Johnston Pittsburgh, Pa.

M. F. Jones Boston, Mass.

W. D. Matthews Chicago. 111.

C. W. Mitchell San Francisco, Calif.

F. H. Moore Indianapolis, Ind.

1. Osgood Boston, Mass.

H. A. Patton Seattle, Wash.

Dana Pierce New York, N. Y.

A. M. Schoen Atlanta, Ga.

Wm. Lincoln Smith Boston, Mass.

R. P. Strong New Orleans, La.

H. H. Sutton Dallas, Tex.

Ralph Sweetland Boston, Mass.

C. M. Tait Montreal, Que.

V. H. Tousley Chicago, III.

F. D. Varnum St. Paul Minn.

W. W. Vaughn Syracuse, N. Y.

F. D. Weber Portland. Ore.

A. G. Wilbor Hartford, Conn.

W. W. Wise New York, N. Y.

H. S. Wynkoop New York, N. Y.

Automobile Council

F. D. Bennett Boston, Mass.

A. R. Goodale Hartford, Conn.

J. H. King Toronto, Ont.

T. A. Kruse New York, N. Y.

W. H. Merrill.... Chicago, 111.

J. V. Parker Chicago, 111.

A. Ryder New York, N. Y.

A. R. Small Chicago, 111.

C. S. Timberlake Hartford, Conn.

Samuel Tupper, Jr Atlanta, Ga.

J. D. Vail Chicago, 111.

Burglary Protection Council

R. A. Algire New York, N. Y.

C. R. Ailing Chicago, III.

E. B. Anderson New York, N. Y.

S. B. Brewster New York, N. Y.

H. B. Michael New York, N. Y.

R. W. Meyers Hartford, Conn.

Dana Pierce New York, N. Y.

256

APPENDIX IX
Aeronautical Forms

JVtrcraCt Megtster

(ThtB CCrrtifiPS that the AIRCRAFT described below has been entered
UMDERWIUmS' LASOXATORIBS* AIBCRAFT RBOISTBR

under the nationality and registration marli as a

having usual stations at

0»i«er_

Mul

Operator-

M»il

Sndrrnnilrrfl* Csbnnitiniffl, Snr.

DESCRimON ^ REGISTERED AIRCRAFT
M*ke'i Trpe No

_M P H. Scmt«C«iB.<-

-Feet. Cna»vR«ba

_ff,?g5toQ^

This registration expires 12 months from date of issue and prior thereto if more *Jxan
90 days elapse without actual flying by the registrant. It may be cancelled or suspended at
ai\y time for cause and is autoniatically suspended following a crash involving insurance loss
pending INQUIRY.

Application for renewal should be made to the addresses given above.

Inifrarilrra' CabDralortri. Jnt.

» ^—^

TO VHOM IT MAY CONCERN ■ S«f«r m iratwi. rt ref ukrly •cKievfd. The plot .> rapo<iKMe
for ike conditxm U hts »>itp before Ukjng ofi. ihat Se commence* fligSt only with UvorftbJe we«thet cor^lKMM.
that p«Men|cr« »hsil not hArxlle or interfere with control* in«lrijm«t»u or other operating mechanism dunn| fli|hl.
M«J M to Ortumjl«Ke» time and pkceofUr^ -. . --■ .. •-- RULES of li-- AIR

^=^<i.i^>~-

257

APPENDIX X

Underwriters' Laboratories' Bibliography
A. The Printed Reports

Fir* Tests of Building Columns

This is the official story of the greatest single
item of work accomplished at Underwriters'
Laboratories — a task which involved years of
work by a number of engineers. The furnace
and related equipment were designed and con-
structed by the Laboratories during the period
1912 to 1917. Their use, except for repairs and
replacements, was donated for the tests, which
were conducted from 1917 to 1919. As early
as 1910, preliminary work relative to the testing
schedule had been begun; and it was not until
1921 that the report, as finally approved by the
co-operating parties, was printed.

Its title in full is as follows: "Fire Tests of
Building Columns by Associated Factory Mutu-
al Fire Insurance Companies, The National
Board of Fire Underwriters and the Bureau of
Standards, Department of Commerce. An
Experimental Investigation of the Resistance of
Columns, Loaded and Exposed to Fire or to
Fire and Water, with Record of Characteristic
Effects. Jointly Conducted at Underwriters'
Laboratories, Chicago, Illinois, 1917-1919."

There are nearly four hundred pages of type
matter, illustrations and tables in the report.
A general outline of the tests is given in the
first section; Sections II, III and IV give des-
criptions of the 106 columns, column coverings
and methods used in their preparation; Section
V (and Appendix D), resiilts of auxiliary tests
of materials: Sections VI, VII, VIII and IX,
descriptions of apparatus and methods of test-
ing; Sections X and XI (and Appendices A, B
and C), results of tests, and Sections XII and
XIII, discussions of test data and conclusions.
There are forty-six tables and 171 half-tones and
line cuts. To cover the cost of getting out such
a book, a charge of $2.(X) is made for it bound in
paper, and $2.50 bound in cloth.

Propagation of Flame in Pipes and Effectiveness
of Arrestors

Many industries make use of tanks contain-
ing liquids which throw off vapors that are
explosive when mixed with air. In some, these
tanks are so connected by pipes that a spark in
any portion of the system might result in a
series of explosions, unless the "propagation
of flame" were effectively intercepted by the
right kind of "arrestors." The du Pont de
Nemours Company, finding during the war that
there was practically no information available
on the subject, commissioned Underwriters*
Laboratories to investigate it at its expense.
The Laboratories' report has sixty-tour pages
and the famous Table of Constants is part of it.

Sisal

Large quantities of this fibre are imported
annually through the port of New Orleans, and

thousands of bales are being transported on ships
or stored in warehouses. The Louisiana Fire
Prevention Bureau and Messrs. Smyth, San-
ford & Gerard of New York had the Latwratories
conduct an investigation into the combustibility
of sisal, its s|X)ntaneous heating, and conditions
under which such sjxjntaneous heating occurs
and factors influencing it. As usual, the report
is exhaustive and plentifully illustrated. Its
thirty-two pages make mteresting reading for
anyone interested in the hazards of baled
fibrous materials.

Inexpensive Fire-Resistive Interior Building Con-
struction

(Report on Interior Building Construction
Consisting of Metal Lath and Gypsum Plaster
on Wood SupporU. Associated Metal Lath
Manufacturers and National Lumber Manu-
facturers' Association. TesU by A. R. Small,
R. K. Porter, J. B. Finnegan and M. J. O'Brien,
Underwriters' Laboratories. August 10, 1922.
120 Pages. 56 half-tone and line illustrations.)

This investigation was begun several years
ago by the late William C. Robinson, Vice- .

President and for twenty years Chief Engineer ■■
of Underwriters' Laboratories. The report
shows that his long-cherished dream has come
true: a combination of mater iais has been found
whereby dwelling houses and small buildings
can be built with both economy and fire-safety.
This is the first investigation of importance as
to scope, cost and potential effects, in which the
Standard Classification as to time has been
used, and the recommendations were based
thereon.

Carbon Tetrachloride Extinguisher Liquids

(Report on Corrosive Action and Nature of
Products Formed when Carbon Tetrachloride
Extinguisher Liquids are Applied to Fires.
Special Investigation No. 42, August 24, 1920
20 pp.)

This investigation was restricted to those
liquids which comply with Underwriters*
Laboratories' Standard specifications, requiring
freedom from impurities and substances which
act as corrosives and toxics. The various ap-
proved liquids were used on wood, gasolene
and alcohol fires in a special furnace, and the
products were drawn off into chemical appara-
tus where they were thoroughly analyzed. The
report covers this subject exhaustively, and is
generously illustrated.

Sheetrock

This product of the United States Gypsum
Company is a familiar wall and ceiling material,

2i;8

Appendix X

applied directly on the joists and studs of frame
construction. The manufacturers submitted
it for listing as Standard, and in 1921 had the
report printed by the Laboratories. It is
nearly one hundred pages in length and is
copiously illustrated.

Herring-Hall-Marvin Fire-Resisting Safes

There are two separate pamphlets, of seventy-
two pages each, dealing with Class A and Class
B safes, respectively.

The Haley Process of Fireproofing Gin-Bated
Cotton

Besides giving complete details of this in-
vention and describing the standard equipment
for dipping cotton bales in the fireproofing
solution, the repwrt tells the story of such tests
as Spark, Flame, Spraying, Country Damage,
Penetration, etc. There are 108 pages in the
booklet, which includes useful tables and ap-
pendices.

B. The Standards

As THE volume of work on any device grows,
it is found convenient to mimeograph or print
the Laboratories' requirements as to construc-
tion, performance under test and method
of factory insjiection or periodical reexamina-
tions. This has been the case for over seventy
devices.

A typical Standard — that for Safes and In-
sulated Cabinets — is printed as Appendix XIII,
pages 266 to 284. Some are longer, as, for in-
stance, that for Rubber-Covered Wires, which
takes up ninety printed pages in addition to the
thirty introductory pages of the assembled
electrical Standards. A few are shorter. All
are thorough and explicit. All have been
submitted to the Councils and Industry Con-
ferences concerned before being issued.

Anyone may obtain a copy of any of the
following Standards, which are uniformly
priced at One Dollar.

Electrical

Armored Cables and Cords

Bell Ringing Transformers

Cabinets and Cutout Boxes

Cartridge Enclosed Fuses

Christmas Tree Lighting Outfits

Circuit Breakers (Air Break Type)

Cleats, Knobs and Tubes

Control Appliances (Resistance Type)

Control Appliances (Transformer Type)

Cutout Bases

Electric Bells

Electric Lighting Plants

Electric Ranges

Electric Signs

Fixture Wires

Flexible Cords

Flexible Cord (Type S. Rubber Sheathed)

Flexible Metallic Conduit

Flexible Non-MetalHc Conduit

Ground Clamps

Heater Cord

Insulating Joints (Construction and Installa-
tion of — )

Knife Switches

Lightning Rod Equipments, Materials for,
Construction and Installation of

Metal Raceways for Surface Wiring

Motion Picture Cable and Stove Wire

Musical Instruments

Panelboards

Renewable Cartridge Enclosed Fuses

Rigid Conduit

Rubber Covered Wires and Cables

Slowbuming, and Slowburning-Weatherproof
Wires

Snap Switches

Soldering Lugs

Toy Transformers

Transformers (Not Oil-Immersed Type)

Transformers (Oil-Immersed Type)

Varnished Cloth Cable

Wooden Raceways for Surface Wiring

Building Materials

Note — With the nearly universal adoption of the
National Standard Time-Temperature Control
Curve, individual Standards for materials subject-
ed to the Laboratories' standardized fire tests be-
come almost unnecessary.

Counterbalanced Elevator Doors
Gypsum Blocks
Gypsum Wall Board

Fire=Fighting Equipment

Angle Type Hose Valves

Automatic Sprinklers

Chemical Engine Hose

Cotton-Jacketed Rubber-Lined Fire Hose

Fire Hose Couplings

Five-Gallon Hand Pump Fire Extinguishers

Indicator Posts

Loose-Stopple 2|-Ga!lon Fire Extinguishers

Non-Rising Stem Valves for Underground

Work
Outside Screw and Yoke Gate Valves
Play Pipes

Rubber Discs for Dry-Pipe and Alarm Valves
Straightway Hose Valves
Swing Check Valves (Regular Pattern)
Swing Check Valves (Special)
Un lined Fire Hose

Appliances for Use of Hazardous
Substances

Gas Garage Heaters, Class C

Gasolene Hose Couplings

High Pressure Gauges for Oxy-Acetylene
Welding and Cutting Apparatus

Lighting Acetylene Generators

Non-Recording Spring Pressure Gauges

Rubber Gasolene Hose

Rubber-Metal Gasolene Hose

Stationary Acetylene Generators, Pressure
Regulators, Blowpipes and Fittings, — for
Oxy-Acetylene Welding and Cutting

Chemical

Oxygen and Hydrogen for Industrial Uses, and
Electrolytic Oxygen and Hydrogen Plants and
Their Equipment.

There are also many other manufactured de-
vices which are tested and inspected by the
Laboratories under requirements which have not
as yet been printed or mimeographed, but which
are based on rules originating with the National
Board of Fire Underwriters. The Laboratories'
report includes in these cases a recommenda-
tion, primarily for the information of under-
writers, as to the introduction and use of the
device, and a report on its status or classification
under National Board rules.

259

A Symbol of Safety

C. Lists of Inspected Appliances and Card Reports Thereon

Large editions of semi-annually revised lists
of manufacturers of material being constructed
in accordance with the Laboratories' Standards
and subject to one of the forms of continuous
supervision by Laboratories' insfiectors and
engineers, as described on pages 22, 41-43 and
274-277, are widely distributed. The following
lists are regularly published;

Ltst of Inspected Electrical Appliances.

List of Inspected Mechanical Appliances.

List of Inspected Automotive Appliances.

List of Appliances Inspected for Accident
Hazard.

Card Reports. Summaries of the Laboratories'
reports are promulgated on printed cards
filed according to classifications, and cabinets
containing these cards are maintained at the
offices of the principal boards of underwriters
and inspection bureaus in the United States,
at many of the general ofiices of insurance com-
panies and firms, certain Federal, state and
municipal departments, and at the offices and
agencies of the Laboratories in larger cities.

A copy of this card report is also forwarded to
the submittor. who may obtain additional
copies at printing cost.

D. Miscellaneous

Fire-Prerention Chemistry

This handbook is now' in course of prepara-
tion by the Chemistry Department of the
Laboratories.

Motion Picture Films

The Laboratories has two films, "An Un-
believer Convinced" and "Fire and Safety
Appliances Testing at Underwriters' Labora-
tories." That they are interesting may be

judged from the fact that in 1922 they were
shown to 100,000 people.

"Laboratories' Data"

This is a monthly twenty-four page magazine,
primarily in the nature of a house organ but of
interest to many not of the "Laboratories'
family." Subscription, One Dollar a year.
An index of selected articles which have already
appeared therein is given below.

Index of Selected Articles from "Laboratories' Data"
Vol. I (1920), Vol. II (1921) and Vol. Ill (1922)

Note. — The Volume number is given first,
in roman (i, ii or iii), then the issue number and
lastly the page number. Names of authors are
printed in italics.

Abuse of fuses, ii, 5, 64

Acetylene industry. Underwriters' Laboratories

and its relations with. A. R. Small, iii, 11,

214
Advertising value of recognized technical

authority, G. B. Muldaur. iii, 7, 139
Aircraft insurance. Facts on, iii, 12, 244
Aircraft register. Underwriters' Laboratories

(Illustrated), ii, 7, 105
As Editor I Would Say. F. H. Wentworth, iii,

8, 169
Autobiography of an inspection report, i, 11, 145
Automatic sprinklers. Tests of Field Samples of.

R. W. Hendricks, iii, 1, 19
Automobile brakes. S. V. James, ii, 6, 87
Automobile bumpers, i, 9-10, 123
Automobile classification. Schedule Method for.

A. R. Small, i, 9-10, 135
Automobile engines and frames. Numbering

systems for, F. C. Garrison, iii, 8, 175
Automobile warning signals, vibration tests of,

ii, 7, 113
Automobile, classification of, ii, 5, 66
Automotive equipment, non-metallic flexible

tubing (Conduit), iii, 3-4, 59

Brick Walls Under Fire Attack, iii, 7, 152
Brinell hardness tester, i, 11, 147
Bumpers, automobile, i, 9-10, 123
Burlington Fire, some lessons from, iii, 3-4, 57

Care of first aid hand fire appliances. H. L.

Pageit, iii, 8, 173
Chemical Extinguishers, ii, 3, 48
Classification of automobiles, ii, 5, 66
Cotton rubber-lined fire hose. Inspection of,

E. A. Riesenberger, iii, 5, 96
Corrosion, electrolytic, ii, 1, 9
Covering of tin-clad doors and faking of top

double lock seam. R. A. Woodcock, iii, 8, 179
Cubical expansion of gasolene. Coefficient of.

A. F. Matson, iii, 1, 12
Curve.s illustrating effects of temperature upon

rubber-insulation of wires and cables, ii, 9-

10, 154
Curves showing gasolene expansion, iii, 1,14

Demerit schedule, iii, 11, 224

Demerit schedule plan, i, 12, 163

Diagrams illustrating use of marked wires,

Rule 26a National Electrical Code, ii, 8-10,

153
Distillation curve for gasolene. (Illustration)

iii, 1, 13
Does acid form in fire hose?, i, 11, 144
Domestic oil burners, iii, 1, 20
Domestic oil burners, ii, 12, 200
Dry rot in fire door. (Illustration), ii, 5, 67
Dry rot in unlabeled fire door. R. J. Crighton.

ii, 5, 66
Duralumin, iii, 9-10, 204
Duralumin, ii, 2, 30
Duties of an inspector. Qualifications and, E.

A. Riesenberger, iii, 1, 76

Dyeing and cleaning plants. Fire prevention as
applied to. E. J. Smith, i, 11, 152

Electric fixture imits. Ventilated and non-
ventilated, ii, 9-10, 169
Electrical department of New York Office. R.

B. Shepard, iii, 6, 119
Electrolytic corrosion, ii, 1, 9

Fire door shows why it bears label. R. J.
Crighton, i, 6, 83

Fire hose. Does acid form in, i, 11, 144

Fire prevention as applied to dyeing and clean-
ing plants. E. J. Smith, i, 11, 152

Fire protection engineering. Underwriters'
Laboratories and education in, i, 6, 84

Fuse failure due to heat generated within the
enclosing cabinet, ii, 4, 51

Fuse testing at New York Office, i, 2, 29

Fuses, Abuse of, ii, 5, 64

260

Appendix X

Gas masks for industrial purposes, iii, 9-10, 190
Gasolene expansion. Curves showing. (Illustra-
tion), iii, 1, 14
Gasolene vapor lamps, iii, 2, 38
"Guaranteed" terne plate, i, 5, 73

Hardness tester, BrineU, i, 11, 147

Hemp, Sisal, i, 11, 143

History of the List of Inspected Electrical

Appliances — "The List of Fittings." A. R.

Small, ii, 2, 19
Hose couplings, j-in. to 2-in., National Standard

thread for, iii, 6, 128
Hose inspector. Experiences of a. E.A. Riesen-

berger, i, 2, 25
How automatic sprinklers are investigated.

R. W. Hendricks, ii, 12, 199

Importance of following the specifications. H.

G. Ufer, iii, 3-4, 60
Industrial significance of standardization, iii,

1, 24
Inspection of cotton rubber-lined fire hose.

E. A. Riesenberger, iii, 5, 96
Inspection Report, Autobiography of an, i, 11,

145

Label service on the map. C. R. D' Olive, iii, 11,

224
Label volume as a trade barometer. C. R.

D'Olive, iii, 5, 107
Labeled appliances. Production of, ii, 4, 53
Laboratories' service is started in England, iii,

8, 166
Laboratories' standards recommended for

adoption for government use, iii, 6, 124
Ladder feet, ii, 5, 72
"List of Fittings, The" — History of the List

of Inspected Electrical Appliances. A. R.

Small, ii, 2, 19
List of Underwriters' Laboratories' standards

and specifications, iii, 8, 168

Look for the Label. C. J. Krieger, ii, 9-10.

147

Making the home safe. J. I. Banash, iii, 8, 183
Marked wires. Rule 26a, National Electrical

Code, Diagrams illustrating use of, ii, 9-10,

153
Motion picture machines and films. A. R.

Small, iii, 12, 239
Movies. W. H. Merrill, ii, 11, 174

National Standard threads for hose couplings,

i-in., to 2-in., iii, 6, 128
Nature of propagation of flame in pipe and

effectiveness of arrestors, ii. 6, 86
New rubber testing machine, i, 11, 147
Non-professional use of slow-burning film. A.

R. Small, iii, 3-4, o2

Oil burners, domestic, iii, 1, 20

Oil burners, domestic, ii, 12. 200

Oxygen and hydrogen for industrial uses, ii, 7,

102
Oxygen and hydrogen mixtures. Effects of high

pressure on explosive limits of, i, 11, 145

Physical tests on rubber products. Methods for

conducting. A. H. Nuckolls, iii, 7, 154
Polarity identification of rubber-covered wire,

ii, 9-10, 152
Production of labeled appliances, ii, 4, 53
Properties of white metal die-castings, ii, 12, 207
Protection Department, Work of. W. C.
Robinson, i, 5, 69

Qualifications and duties of an inspector. E.
A. Riesenberger, iii, 1, 26

Review of year 1921 at Underwriters' Labora-
tories, iii, 1, 5

Rubber insulation of wires and cables. Effect
of temperature upon. (Illustrated;, ii, 9-10,
155

Safes, Testing. G. T. Bunker, iii, 5, 79
Should National Electrical Code Rule 23 be

changed? iii, 2, 42
Signaling apparatus, Tests on. E. P. Slack,

iii, 6, 113
Significance of the word "Standard," iii, 3-4,

55
Spontaneous heating of red peanut skins, ii, 6,

77
Standardization of wood testing methods, iii, 2,

43
Sulphur dioxide for refrigeration, ii, 4, 52

Testing safes. G. T. Bunker, iii, 5, 79
Testing safes for explosion from sudden heating,

i, 9-10, 118
Testing a small electric lighting plant (Illustra-
tion), i, 12, 158
Testing station at San Francisco, iii, 5, 101
Tests of field samples of automatic sprinklers,

R. W. Hendricks, iii, 1, 19
Tests on signaling apparatus. E. P. Slack, iii,
6, 113

Unlabeled fire door. Dry rot in. R. J. Crighton,

ii, 5, 66
Unlined fire hose. E. A. Riesenberger, iii, 11,

229
Underwriters' Laboratories — For Service, Not

Profit, G. B. Muldaur, iii, 9-10, 191
Underwriters' Laboratories' aircraft register

ii, 7, 105
Underwriters' Laboratories' automobile sched-
ule, i, 1, 11
Underwriters' Laboratories, A contribution by

stock insurance to a public cause, fire protec-
tion and prevention. A.R. Small, iii, 7, 141
Underwriters' Laboratories and education in

fire protection engineering, i, 6, 84
Underwriters' Laboratories and its relations

with the acetylene industry. A. R. Small,

iii, 11, 214
Underwriters' Laboratories organizes to classify

airplanes, A. R. Small, 1, 12, 159
Underwriters' Laboratories as a producer. S.

V. James, iii, 2, 46
Underwriters' Laboratories' register of aircraft

pilots, ii, 7, 107
Underwriters' Laboratories. Review of year

1921 at, iii. 1, 5
Underwriters' Laboratories' Standards and

specifications. List of, iii, 8, 168
Underwriters' Laboratories, Year, 1920 at ii, 1,

Vapor lamp. Gasolene, iii, 2, 38

Ventilated and non-ventilated electric fixture

units, ii, 11. 175
Vibration test of automobile warning signals

(Illustrated), ii, 7, 113

War Department using A. E S. C. standards,

iii, 1, 27
What insurance owes the public, iii, 9-10, 188
Who is at fault? (Regarding Specifications).

ii. 12, 206
Why is Underwriters' Laboratones? C. R.

Ailing, iii. 7. 147
Why one-quart extinguishers sometimes fail to

operate, ii, 7, 109
William Cohn Robinson Memorial Number, ii,

Work of the Protection Department. W. C.
Robinson, i, 5, 69

261

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APPENDIX XII
Typical Underwriters' Laboratories' Specifications

Specifications of the Fire Department
of the City of

for 2J4='n- doiibIe=jacketed cotton
rubbcr=lined fire hose.

I. — Purpose
For Use by the Fire Department of the City of

II. — Construction

(a) Hose in General. The hose shall be made
of a col ton cover and rubber lining and shall
be at least 2} in. in internal diameter and nomin-
ally 50 ft. in length.

The name of the manufacturer, the trade
name of the hose, together with the month
and year of manufacture, and the words " Tested
to -too Pounds" shall be stenciled uix)n every
section twice in each 5C ft. length, with indelible
letters and figures at least 1 in. in height. These
marks to begin approximately 24 in. from the
couplings. Each length shall also bear the
label of Underwriters' Laboratories firmly at-
tached near one coupling.

(b) Rubber Lining. The lining shall consist
of not less than three calendered sheets and
shall be lap-jointed, with the lap as small and
neat as is consistent with the best results.
When inspected at the factory it shall be shown
to be of uniform thickness and not less than
0.05H in. thick and not more than 0.072 in.
thick, both dimensions exclusive of the backing.
It shall be practically free from corrugations.

(c) Cotton Cover. The cotton cover shall be
of two plies separate or interwoven each circular
made and seamless, and having large filler
strands composed of many threads which shall
be woven around the hose throughout its length,
and shall have warp threads composed of several
fine threads interwoven with the filler strands.

Note. — It is not the intention to debar
under these specifications any form of cotton
cover which is not accurately described as
"two ply separate or interwoven circular
made and seamless." Any form of cotton
cover which is shown by tests and examin-
ations made in the factory inspection of the
hose by Underwriters' Laboratories as the
authorized agent of the city to conform, be-
cause of strength and weight, to the require-
ments of Sections Il-(e) and IV-(a), shall be
considered as included in this description.
((f) Filtinss. Each length of hose shall be
fitted with couplings conforming to the stan-
dards for weight and quality of metal, for di-
mensions and for threads of the couplings now
in use in the fire departments of the city. The
hose shall be expanded into the couplings in a
workmanlike manner without cutting the
rubber or rupturing the cotton cover. After
attachment the couplings shall be tested at the
factory by Underwriters' Laboratories, the
authorized representative of the city, and when
so tested shall withstand the pressure test des-
cribed in Section IV- (a) below, without the use
of tape or rubber tissue as a filler. Each coup-
ling shall be provided with accurately fitted
rubber gaskets both inside the coupling and at
the end of the hose beneath the expansion ring,
(e) Weight of Hose. Each 50-ft. length,
comolete with couplings, shall be found on in-
spection and test at the factory by Under-

writers' Laboratories, the authorized repre-
sentative of the city, to weigh not more than 70
lbs.

III. Material

(a) Cotton Cover. The cotton cover shall be
well, evenly and firmly made from good cotton.
It shall be examined at the factory by Under-
writers' Laboratories, the authorized representa-
tive of the city, and the label as evidence of in-
spection and acceptance shall not be allowed for
any length of hose, the cotton cover of which is
not found as free from unsightly defects, dirt,
knots, lumps and irregularities of twist as is con-
sistent with the best manufacturing practice.

(6) Rubber Lining. I. Tne rubber lining shall
be made of a properly vulcanized rubber com-
pound, which when tested by Underwriters'
Laboratories, the authorized representative of
the city, in connection with the factory in-
spection and label service, shall sustain all of the
tests required in Section IV- (b), 2.

2. The backing, if used, must not exceed
0 028 in. in thickness. It need not be of the
same composition as the rubber lining, pro-
vided the adhesion between the rubber lining
and the cotton jacket, when tested at the factory
by Underwriters' Laboratories, the authorized
renresentative of the city, under the factory
inspection and label service, is found to be such
as to meet the tests required under Section
IV-(b). 1.

IV. Tests

All tests, both on the hose as a whole and on
individual parts, shall be performed according
to "Underwriters' Laboratories' Standard Pro-
cedure for Methods and Machines for Testing
Rubber-Lined Fire Hose."

^A) HYDRAULIC PRESSURE TESTS
ON THE HOSE AS A WHOLE

1. Elongation and Ttvist. Each length, with
coupling attached, shall be subjected to a
pressure test of 400 lb. per sq. in. This test,
which shall be made at the factory in the pres-
ence and under the supervision of Under-
writers' Laboratories, the authorized repre-
sentative of the city, is to expose imp)erfections
and to insure proper attachment of the coupl ings.

During the test any length of hose which is
shipped out with the labels attached as evidence
of inspection and acceptance must not leak,
sweat, or break the threads of the cotton cover.
It must not contract in length or diameter, rise
from the level of the test table, or warp more
than 20 in. from a straight line drawn from
coupling to coupling. The limit of elongation
shall be 9 p)er cent, of the original length,
and it shall not turn more than 15 deg. per foot.
The twist must be in a direction to tighten
rather than loosen the couplings.

2. Kinkins.. One full length in every ten
lengths shall be tested while kinked. The
test is to be made at the factory in the presence
and under the supervision of Underwriters'
Laboratories, the authorized representative of
the city. When so tested the threads of the
cotton cover of any length, shipped out with

264

Appendix XII

the label attached as evidence of inspection and
acceptance, must not break at a pressure below
300 lb. per sq. in.

3. Bursting Strength Lying Straight en Curved.
From every lot of 60 lengths, or less, one sample,
3 ft. in length, shall be cut from a length selected
at random, and be tested at the factory as
follows, in the presence of and under the super-
vision of Underwriters' Laboratories, the
authorized representative of the city. The
sample shall be tested in the lying straight
position or while curved to a radius of 27 in.
When so tested the cotton cover of any length
shipped out with the label attached as evidence
of inspection and acceptance must not break
at a pressure below 600 lb. per sq. in.

(b) tests of the rub-
ber COMPOUND

Sections 8 in. long shall be cut from any length
at any place for the following tests of the rubber
compounds. All tests shall be made by Under-
writers' Laboratories, the authorized representa-
tive of the city, in connection with the inspec-
tions at the factory and the labeling of the hose.

1. Friction Compound. The adhesion of the
lining to the cotton cover shall be such that a
weight of 12 lb. shall not cause the rubber to
separate from the cotton cover at a greater
rate than 1 in. per min. The width of the piece
under test shall be 1 J in.

2. Rubber Lining, {w) Physical Tests When
New (Less than One Month from Date of Final
Vulcanization.) After the test piece is held
stretched from 2 to 10 in. for 10 min. the per-
manent elongation 10 min. after release must
not exceed 2o per cent. The tensile strength of
the rubber lining of any hose shipped out with
the label attached as evidence of inspection at
the factory by Underwriters' Laboratories, the
authorized representative of the city, must be at
least 1,600 lb. per sq. in., and the elongation at
the breaking point must be at least 2 to 12 in.

(x) Physical Tests Up to One Year from Date
of Labeling. Sample pieces cut from lengths
of labeled hose and submitted to Underwriters'
Laboratories, in accordance with its Field
Follow Up System, must show a permanent
elongation 10 min. after release of not more than
25 per cent, when the test piece is held stretched
from 2 to 8 in. for 10 min. The tensile strength
of such sample test pieces must be at least 1,200
lb. and the elongation of the breaking point
must be at least 2 to 10 in.

(y) Life Test Within Three Months After
Labeling. After being subjected to a dry heat
of 158° F. for a period of four days of 24 hours
each, test pieces cut from the rubber linings
of hose shipped with the label attached, as
evidence of inspection by Underwriters'
Laboratories, at the factory must have a tensile
strength of at least 900 lb. per sq. in.

(z) Chemical Test. Five chemical tests shall
be made as follows:

Acetone Extract, Alcoholic Potash Extract,
Chloroform Extract, Ash and Total Sulphur.
The sum total of the results of the five tests
must not exceed 67 per cent, by weight of the
total compound and the free sulphur must not
exceed 1 \ per cent, by weight of the total com-
pound.

The Acetone Extract must not exceed 4 per
cent.; the Alcoholic Potash Extract must not
exceed 1} per cent.; the Chloroform Extract
must not exceed 2 per cent.; the Total Sulphur,
exclusive of barytes, must not exceed 4 per
cent.; and the Ash must not exceed 57 per cent,
or be less than 50 per cent.: all percentages to
be by weight of the total compxjund. Tests

to be made according to the "Underwriters'
Laboratories' Standard Procedure for Chemical
Test of Rubber Linings for Fire Hose."

V. Inspection and Acceptance

(a) Inspection at Factory. Inspection of hose
under the requirements of the preceding section
wUl be carried out at the factory or factories
where the hose is made by Underwriters'
Laboratories, and according to its "Procedure
for Inspections at Factories and Labeling Rub-
ber-Lined Fire Hose."

(b) Appointed Representative. Underwriters'
Laboratories, of Chicago, Illinois, is hereby des-
ignated as the duly authorized representative of

the City of and will conduct for the City

of. . under its Label Service, the tests called for.

(c) Identification. Each length of hose de-
livered must bear the label of Underwriters'
Laboratories, as evidence of its having been
examined and tested by the duly authorized

representative of the City of and passed as

in conformity with the foregoing requirements.

(d) Acceptance. Acceptance of the hose is
conditioned upon the receipt by the City of

from Underwriters' Laboratories,

acting as the duly authorized representative

of the City of of notice of labeling and

summary of record of examination and tests.

VI. Contjitions of Purchase

(a) Amount. Bids are wanted for a total of

ft. ( lengths) more or less of 2i

in. double-jacketed Cotton Rubber-Lined Fire
Hose, labeled by Underwriters' Laboratories,
as conforming to the foregoing specifications.

(b) Place of Delivery. Hose to be delivered

free of all carrying charges to City of

State of

(d) Sealed Proposals. Sealed propKKals stating
name of the actual manufacturer of the hose and
the price asked per foot of labeled hose, com-
plete with couplings, and delivered, will be
received untU at the office of

drawn payable to the City of to an

amount not less than per cent, of the

total price named in the bid, as a deposit in
evidence of good faith. Said bonds or checks
will be returned to all unsuccessful bidders.

<f) Bond for Delivery. The bond or certified
check deposited by the successful bidder will
be retained by the city until the delivery of the
full amount of labeled hose.

(g) Awarding of Order. Bids received will be

opened at the office of on All other

things being equal, orders will be given to the
lowest bidder or bidders. The. . . .reserves the
right, however, to reject any or all bids not
deemed to the best interest of the City of

(K) Guarantee. The manufacturer shall
guarantee that the hose is made according to
the best principles of hose construction, and
that it is free from defects of material and
workmanship. If at any time within a period
of three years the rubber parts of any section
or sections of it burst, or show upon examina-
tion cracks or hardening due to defects of
material or workmanship, and not incident to
the customary wear and tear of service or im-
proper storage or care, such hose shall be
replaced by the contractor with new hose at cost

to the City of equal to that per

cent, of the original cost as the time is to three
years.

265

APPENDIX XIII
A Typical Standard— That for Safes and Insulated Cabinets

SECTION 1

UNDERWRITERS' LABORATORIES

STANDARD TEST APPARATUS FOR SAFES

AND INSULATED CABINETS

This section of the Standard includes a general description
of the equipment and apparatus regularly employed by
Underwriters' Laboratories in the tests and investigations
of Safes and Insulated Cabinets.

Introductory

General: Underwriters' Laboratories, a
corporation chartered November 1901. by the
State of Ilhnois, is authorized to establish and
maintain laboratories for the examination and
testing of appliances and devices.

UnderwTiters' Laboratories was established
by, and is maintained by the National Board
of Fire Underwriters, For Service — Not Profit.

The object of Underwriters' Laboratories is
to bring to the user the best obtainable opinion
on the merits of appliances, devices, machines
and materials in respect to life and fire hazards
and accident prevention.

The work is undertaken as one means of
reducing the enormous and disproportionate
loss of life and property by lire and the number
of accidents in America.

A complete description of the organization,
purpose and methods of Underwriters' Labora-
tories is printed in a separate pamphlet, copies
of which may be obtained upon request.

This Standard. This Standard comprises
the programs employed by Underwriters'
Laboratories in the examination, test and
classification of safes arid insulated cabinets

and the methods of follow-up and labeling.
The various sections of the standard are as
follows:

Section I — General Description of Equip-
ment and Apparatus employed
in the tests and investigation of
Safes and Insulated Cabinets.

Section II — Description of prescribed and
standard examination and test
procedures to ascertain compli-
ance with standards of construc-
tion and performance under tests
for the various classes of Safe?
and for Insulated Cabinets.

Section III — The classification of Safes and
Insulated Cabinets and standard
specifications for construction
and performance under tests for
the various classes.

Section IV — General description of Label
Service Procedure.

Section V — Description of Standard Label
Service Procedure for Safes and
Insulated Cabinets.

Investigation of Safes and Insulated Cabinets

Preliminary Arrangements- A manu-
facturer desirous of securing an investigation of
his Safes or Insulated Cabinets may do so by
first depositing a preliminary fee as evidence of
good faith and on completion of the work pay-
ing the balance of its cost as shown by accurate
records thereof, which are kept in detail. As a
warrant that an applicant will not incur costs
beyond his expectations, a limit of expense is
fixed in each case beyond which charges are not
made. By this means an opportunity is af-
forded anyone at comparatively low cost to
secure the opinion of the recognized authorities
covering his product in its relation to the fire
hazard.

The preliminary fee for the tests, investiga-
tions and report on Safes and Insulated Cabi-
nets is one hundred dollars (1100.00), such
devices being in group F of the Laboratories

schedule of fees listed on the enclosed applica-
tion blank.

The costs are in proportion to the work re-
quired for the investigation and report whether
the safes or cabinets show superior or inferior
qualities. The applicant's obligation to pay
the charges is not, therefore, contingent on the
nature of the opinion rendered whether favor-
able or otherwise. If for any reason the costs
do not aggregate the amount of the preliminary
fee, the balance will be returned to the appli-
cant.

Blank forms for use in making applications
for investigations of Safes and Insulated Cabi-
nets are furnished on request.

Required for the Investigation. The
following information and test samples are
necessary for the tests, investigations and re-
port on Safes and Insulated Cabinets:

^66

Appendix XIII

(o) Drawings and Specifications — Detailed
drawings and specifications of a medium size
safe of each class submitted.

(b) Sizes and Weights — A list giving the
exterior and interior dimensions and the
weights of each size of the classes of safes or
insulated cabinet submitted.

(c) Instructions — Instructions for packing,
shipping, handling, installation, operation and
maintenance of the safes or cabinets submitted.

id) Test Samples — At least two safes of each
class submitted, or at least one insulated cabi-
net are required for the examinations and tests.
One of the safes of each class to be of medium
size and one to be of the largest size provided
this does not exceed 7 feet high, 5 feet wide and
3 feet deep. Insulated cabinets to be of me-
dium size.

An additional safe or cabinet of medium size
may be necessary if the tests and investigation
indicate that a fire stream test is advisable.

Heat insulating materials and other special
materials are required in sufficient quantities
for any separate tests necessary for the report.

Test samples should not be made or shipped
until the Laboratories have had opportunity
to study the drawings and specifications, in-
spect the application of the insulation, pass on
the special connections for the introduction of
the apparatus for the measurement of the in-
ternal temperatures, and on the suitability of
the condition of the samples for test.

Safes or cabinets submitted for test must
accurately represent the commercial product
and should be shipped to the Laboratories in
the same manner that such product is ordinar-
ily shipped.

(e) Claims — A list of the claims made for
the safes or cabinets, including statements
covering the situations for which they are
advocated and considered capable of safe-
guarding against the fire and impact hazards.

(/) Service Record — If the safes or cabinets
have been on the market, a list of users should

be furnished, and also any reports covering
their performance in actual fires.

Report on Investigation. If the results
of the investigation of any single sample or set
of samples are favorable, a report is prepared
in which definite recommendations for action
are made to the Fire Council of the Laboratories
by whom the report is reviewed and by whom
action on the recommendation is taken. If at
any time the results of the investigation show
that improvements are necessary', a report is
sent to the Submittor setting forth the particu-
lars in which the device does not comply with
the Standard.

The report includes a general description of
the safes or cabinets submitted, a list of the
claims made for the product, the results of the
tests and investigations made, a brief statement
relative to the Manufacturer, a comprehensive
conclusion covering each phase of the investi-
gation, and the recommendations made.

Listing of Safes and Insulated Cabinets.
When as the result of investigation, the prod-
uct of the manufacturer has been judged to
comply with the requirements of Standard of
the Laboratories for the product, and the Fire
Council has concurred in the recommendations
in the report, a card is promulgated to sub-
scribers announcing the listing of the product as
standard under the proper classifications.

The name of the manufacturer is also in-
cluded in the List of Inspected Mechanical
Appliances which is promulgated semi-annu-
ally.

At the request of the manufacturer and at
the cost of printing, the Underwriters' Labora-
tories will furnish printed copies of the official
report in the numbers desired.

Supervision of Listed Safes or Insulated
Cabinets. The Label Sen'ice is employed in
the supervision of Listed Safes and Insulated
Cabinets. This Service is described in later
sections of this Standard.

Underwriters' Laboratories' Standard Test Apparatus
for Safes and Insulated Cabinets

The equipment employed in the tests of
devices and materials that may be exjXDsed to
fire is located in several of the Laboratories'
buildings, but the greater portion is in a build-
ing specially designed for work of this character
known as Building No. 3.

Building No. Three. This building is of
fireproof construction having a steel frame pro-
tected by concrete and enclosed by brick and
reinforced concrete walls. The ground floor
is of concrete and the upper floor and roof of
reinforced concrete. Sliding skylights that
can be opened for ventilation are located over
the central and southern portions of the build-
ing. The windows are metal, glazed with
wired glass.

The building has a ground area of 69 by 70
feet and is one and two stories high, the maxi-
mum height being equivalent to three stories.
The central portion is one high story, furnishing
head room of approximately 37 feet. At three
sides of this portion the building is two stories
with head room of approximately 17J feet
under the second floor. A brick tower 53J feet
high which can be partly opened to the air at
the top is located in the southeast corner of the
building, and three brick stacks 58 feet high
are built in the brick wall adjoining the tower.

A trench for pipes and conduits extends around
the four sides of the building. Removable
reinforced concrete covers are provided to
permit access to the trench.

The first story is undivided, except in the
south-eastern portion in front of the tower
which is separated from the main room by
partitions and a large rolling steel door. The
second story is open to the high central portion
except a room on the south side which is en-
closed by metal lath and cement plaster par-
titions.

The first story of the building is devoted to
the tests of devices and materials requiring the
use of furnaces, and to the preparation of test
samples for these furnaces. Ten furnaces of
different sizes specially designed for test units
ranging from full size building columns to 10
feet by 12 feet panels and to the smaller devices
and building material units, are located in
various parts of the building.

The second story is used for the preparation
of test sampler and the location of the fans,
pumps and tanks supplying air to the test fur-
naces and pressure to the apparatus by means
of which some of the test samples are subjected
to loads.

267

A Symbol of Safety

Apparatus

The apparatus used in the tests of safes and
insulated cabinets consists of a furnace in
which the test samples are subjected to the
Fire Test and in which they are heated before
and after the Impact Test; apparatus for meas-
uring the temperatures in the furnace and on
the interior of the safes or cabinets; an electric
hoist, derrick, slings and tripping device for
use in the Impact Tests; a hydrant and flexible
nozzle for use when Fire Stream Tests are made,
and the apparatus for testing the materials
employed in the safes or cabinets submitted.

Furnace No. 3. The furnace employed in
the tests of safes and cabinets is known as
Furnace No. 3. The furnace proper consists
of a combustion chamber approximately 6 feet
wide, 4 feet deep and 8 feet high inclosed at the
back and sides by solid brick walls and in front
by a swinging door consisting of a steel frame
filled with brick. The top of the furnace con-
sists of a brick arch provided with a vent lead-
ing to a 5S-foot chimney stack. The bottom of
the chamber consists of a fire brick floor laid
on the top of a strong truck, the wheels of which
roll in channels in the floor of the building.
Mica glazed observation holes are provided in
the walls so that all parts of the combustion
chamber may be observed.

The furnace is heated by blast burners which
discharge into the chamber on all sides through
holes in the walls near the bottom, the flames
being directed upward by baffle bricks. The
burners are connected to the city gas mains and
to the Laboratories' furnace blower system,
suitable valves being provided for regulating
the intensity and distribution of the fire.

Temperature Measurements. The tem-
peratures in the furnace are measured with at
least six thermo-couples so arranged as to in-
dicate the temperature of the furnace gases at
points about 2 inches from the center of each
of the sides of the safe or cabinet under test.
The temperature of the interior of the test

sample is measured at a point in an upper front
corner, in a diagonally opposite upper rear
corner with thermo-couples, and in the upper
central part with a recording thermometer.
The thermo-couple wires and the connecting
tube of the recording thermometer are con-
ducted out of the test sample through a special-
ly protected hole at the center of the bottom.
The cold junctions of all of the thermo-couples
are located in a common ice bath near the
furnace and a cable leads from them to a switch-
board and temperature measuring station about
30 feet distant. The indications of the thermo-
couples are read with a portable potentiom-
eter and those of the thermometer are re-
corded continuously on a round chart sheet.

Impact Test Apparatus. The apparatus
used for Impact Tests consists of a stiff leg
4-ton derrick with 16-foot mast and 24-foot
boom mounted on top of a 53-foot tower; of
chain slings and a trip hook. The motive
power for the derrick is a 4-ton double drum
electric hoist.

The yard near the base of the tower is paved
with smooth, continuous concrete extending
from a large door of the building near the fur-
nace to a heavily reinforced slab on which the
safes are dropped. The slab is covered with a
layer of brick rip rap about 6 inches deep.

Fire Stream Test Apparatus. The ap-
paratus used in the Fire Stream Test consists
of a special movable hydrant, or flexible nozzle
attached to the hydrant, a gate valve for con-
trolling the stream, and a pressure gauge at-
tached to the base of the nozele.

The hydrant is connected to the mains below
the floor of the building and is supplied by the
pressure tanks and an electrically driven pump
in the plant.

Apparatus for Testing Materials. The
apparatus used for tests upon materials in-
cludes a 200,000-pound Riehle testing machine,
a 10,000-pound Olsen testing machine, balances
special gas furnaces, electric furnaces, calorim-
eters and chemical test apparatus.

SECTION II

UNDERWRITERS' LABORATORIES' STANDARD

METHODS OF EXAMINATIONS AND TESTS FOR

SAFES AND INSULATED CABINETS

• This section of the Standard treats of prescribed and stand-
ard examination and test procedures that are regularly em-
ployed by Underwriters' Laboratories to ascertain com-
pliance with the standard of construction and performance
under test given in Section III.

Plan of Investigation

Investigations of safes and insulated cabinets
are made in accordance with the plan shown in
the following outline, which indicates in the
first column the separate phases or main divi-
sions, in the second the various features in-
volved in each phase, and in the third the titles
of the tests and other means by which the in-
formation relative to each feature may be
obtained. The procedure in the investigation
of any individual type or pattern of safe or

cabinet is to a considerable extent determined
by its design and the character of materials
used in its construction.

Information relative to any feature may be
obtained from one or all of the sources indicated
by the titles given in the third column of the
outline mentioned, the extent of the investiga-
tion being largely determined by the results
of the study of design and the character of the
evidence obtained from the first tests and exam-
inations.

268

Appendix XIII

DESIGN AND
CONSTRUCTION

Form and Arrangement
of Parts

Suitability of Materials

Workmanship

I Study of Design, Tests of Materials, Instal-
lation Tests, Operation Tests, Fire Test,
Impact Test, Fire Stream Test, Examina-
tions at Factory.

[Study of Design, Tests of Materials, Opera-
tion Tests, Fire Test, Impact Test, Examina-
Itions at Factory, Service Record.

Study of Design, Tests of Materials, Instal-
, lation Tests. Operation Tests, Fire Test : Im-
pact Test, Examinations at Factory, Field
Inspections, Service Record.

PRACTICABILITY

Handling and Shipping
Installation
Operation
Maintenance

fStudy of Design, Installation Tests, Exami-
\ nations at Factori', Field Inspections.

fStudy of Design, Installation Tests, Field
\ Inspections.

fStudy of Design, Operation Tests, Field
\ Inspections, Ser\'ice Record.

/Study of Design, Operation Tests, Service
\ Record.

DURABILITY

Wear and Tear

Swelling

Corrosion

fStudy of Design, Tests of Materials, Instal-
j lation Tests. Operation Tests, Field Inspec-
Itions, Service Record.

fStudy of Design, Tests of Materials, Service
\ Record.

fStudy of Design, Tests of Materials, Fire
\Test, Service Record.

STRENGTH

Strength of Parts

Strength of Assembled
Device

I Study of Design, Tests of Materials, Instal-
lation Tests, Operation Tests. Fire Test, Im-
pact Test, Fire Stream Test, Field Inspec-
tions, Serv-ice Record.

(Study of Design, Installation Tests, Opera-
tion Tests, Fire Test, Impact Test, Fire
Stream Test, Field Inspections, Service Rec-
lord.

FIRE

RETARDANT

PROPERTIES

{Study of Design, Tests of Materials, Fire Test,
Impact Test, Fire Stream Test, Ser\ice
Record.

c»„K-u» fStudy of Design, Tests of Materials, Fire

:»taDiuty ^Test, Impact Test, Fire Stream Test. Ser-

Ivice Record.

UNIFORMITY

Uniformity of Parts

Uniformity of
Assembled Device

Study of Design, Tests of Materials, Instal-
lation Tests. Operation Tests, Fire Test, Im-
pact Test, Examinations at Factorj*.

fStudy of Design, Installation Tests, Exami-
[nations at Factory, Service Record.

The methods employed in conducting the tests and investigations are described in the following:

269

A Symbol of Safety

Study of Design. The safes or cabinets
furnished for test, and the drawinRs and speci-
fications submitted by the manufacturer are
studied to ascertain the form and arrangement
of the parts.

The safes or cabinets and the materials sub-
mitted are examined as to condition, quahty
and appearance to ascertain so far as possible
by such means, the suitability of the materials
for the purposes intended and to ascertain the
probable character of the workmanship neces-
sary in the materials and in the safes or cabi-
nets in which they are incorporated.

The safes or cabinets submitted are examined
for injury and defects and the drawings and
specifications and the instructions for handling
and shipping, installation and maintenance are
studied to obtain information relative to the
practicability of the methods advocated for
handling and shipping; to obtain information
relative to the practicability of installing the
safes and cabinets in the situations for which
they are advocated with the class of workmen
to whom this work is intrusted; and to obtain
information relative to the practicability of
repairing the safes or cabinets under the vari-
ous conditions likely to be met with in practice.

The form and arrangement of the parts are
studied and the known properties of the ma-
terials considered with reference to the ability
of the safes and cabinets to withstand the
various deteriorating influences and the stresses
to which they are likely to be subjected under
service conditions.

The drawings and specifications of the safes
and cabinets are studied and the known proper-
ties of the materials considered with reference
to the probable degree of heat insulation and
stability of the safes and cabinets under the fire
exposures to which they are likely to be sub-
jected in the classes of buildings for which they
are advocated.

The materials submitted and the drawings
and specifications are studied to ascertain the
probable degree of uniformity with which the
materials and the safes or cabinets can be fur-
nished commercially.

The results obtained from the study of design
are compared with the standard requirements
given in Section III.

Tests of Materials. The materials used
in the construction of safes and cabinets are
subjected to separate examination and tests
to ascertain their physical and chemical
characteristics when the Laboratories is not
in possession of the necessary information rel-
ative to their suitability for the purpose in-
tended. These examinations and tests are
confined to those that will furnish data that are
pertinent to the various features of the investi-
gation.

The results obtained in the tests of the ma-
terials are compared with the standard re-
quirements given in Section III.

Installation Tests. The safes or cabinets
submitted for test are handled, unloaded, un-
packed and examined as received to obtain
information relative to the practicability of
handling and shipping advocated by the
manufacturer, as eviaenced by the facilities
and number of men required in handling and
the condition of the containers and any injury
or breakage in the safes or cabinets.

The safes or cabinets submitted for test are
moved over the cement floors at the Labora-
tories and are installed on substantial level
foundations to obtain information relative to
the practicability of the methods of installation
advocated and the strength and rigidity of the

finished product as evidenced by the facilities
required to handle the safes or cabinets, the
ease with which they can be moved and trans-
ported over the floor, the probable precautions
necessary for the protection of the safes and the
various floors hkely to be met with in the field
against injury', and consideration of the various
sizes and weights of the safes or cabinets sub-
mitted.

The safes or cabinets submitted for test are
then measured and examined relative to the
workmanship and uniformity as evidenced by
the accuracy of the fits and clearances between
the parts, the finish and the uniformity of the
dimensions. Steel plates, J inch in thickness
are then placed under diagonally opposite
casters of the safes or cabinet to obtain infor-
mation relative to the strength and rigidity of
the assembled parts, as evidenced by any dis-
tortions in the parts or changes in the fits and
clearances.

The safes or cabinets are afterwards moved to
and from the furnace used for the Fire and
Impact Tests and observations made similar to
those mentioned.

The results obtained in the Installation Tests
are compared with the standard requirements
given in Section III.

Operation Tests. After the safes or cabi-
nets submitted for test have been installed on
their foundations at the Laboratories, the
locking mechanism doors and any movable
interior equipment of each is repeatedly
operated while the safes or cabinets are sup-
ported on level foundations and after the plates
have been installed under the casters. These
tests are made to obtain information relative
to the practicability of operation, the moving
parts under conditions that may exist in the
field, as evidenced by the ease with which they
can be operated and the freedom from binding
due to racking or improper fits and clearances.

The safes or cabinets are examined to ascer-
tain the extent to which the doors will open,
the suitability of the form and arrangement of
and the materials in the operating parts, the
accuracy of the fits and clearances between the
moving parts, the practicability of making
repairs and renewals of the parts, the probable
ability of the operating parts to withstand the
wear and tear and the stresses to which they
are likely to be subjected, and with reference to
the uniformity of the operating parts.

The results obtained in the Operating Tests
are compared with the standard requirements
given in Section III.

Fire Test No. 1. A medium size safe or
cabinet submitted for test is subjected to a
quick, hot fire in which all exterior surfaces of
the test sample are exposed to fire and heat.

The safe or cabinet is placed on raised in-
combustible foundations in the bottom of a
special test hut, the fuel placed in position in
the hut, the heat measuring apparatus installed
in the hut and connected, and the fire started.

The fuel is of such a character and so ar-
ranged that the temperatures surrounding the
test sample rise tc at least 1000 degrees Fahr.
in 2} minutes, 1300 degrees in 4 minutes, 1500
degrees in 7J minutes, 1600 degrees in 10
minutes and 1700 degrees in 15 minutes. The
test is continued for at least 30 minutes. The
fire is then extinguished and the test sample
allowed to cool.

Observations are made during the test of the
general character, distribution and temperature
of the fire, and of anything indicating the
disruption of the parts or explosion of the test
samples.

270

Appendix XIII

After the test sample has cooled to nonnal
temperature, examinations are made covering
any disruption of the parts or other indications
of internal explosions, and covering its stability,
as indicated by any bulging, buckling, warpmg,
or separations. . .

Fire Test No. 2. The medium size safe or
cabinet submitted for test is subjected to the
standard fire conditions in which all exterior
surfaces of the test sample are exposed to fire
and heat. . , , ^. ^ i

The safe or cabmet is placed on the trucK
forming the bottom of the furnace, papers and
records placed in the test sample, the heat
measuring apparatus installed in the furnace
and in the interior of the test sample adjusted
and connected, the doors of the test sample and
furnace closed and locked, and the fire started.

The gas and air supplies are adjusted so that
the heat is well distributed throughout the
combustion chamber and over the exposed
faces of the test sample and so that the tem-
peratures within the furnace rise to approxi-
mately 1550 degrees Fahrenheit during the
first 30 minutes, to approximately 1700 degrees
at 60 minutes, and gradually thereafter to the
temperatures shown on the time temperature
table given at the end of this chapter.

The test is continued until the highest of the
temperatures indicated by the thermo-couples
on the inside of the test sample reach 300 de-
grees. The fire is then extinguished and the
test sample allowed to cool to normal tempera-
tures without opening the furnace, the tem-
perature in the interior being continuously

Observations are made throughout the test
of the general character and distribution of the
fire, the color of the parts of the test sample due
to heat, the temperatures in the furnace and
the temperatures in the interior of the test

Observations are made throughout the test
covering the heat insulation furnished, as
evidenced by the temperatures recorded on the
inside of the safe or cabinet and the time re-

quired for these temperatures to reach 300
degrees Fahrenheit; and also covering the
stabihty of the safe or cabinet, as evidenced by
any bulging, buckUng or warping in or any
sagging, separations, breakage or collapse of the
parts, fusion or visible disintegration of the
materials, or other evidence of insecurity or loss
of strength.

After the safe or cabinet has cooled to normal
temperatures, examinations are made covering
its stabihty, as e\-idenced by any bulging, buck-
ling, warping, or separations affecting the tight-
ness of closure at the doors or between the
parts; or by any breakage or bending of the
parts or fusion or visible disintegration of the
materials affecting the strength of or security
of the fastenings between the parts.

The doors of the safe or cabinet are then
forced open and examinations made covering
the heat insulation, as evidenced by the legi-
bihty and usabihty of the records on the inside,
the condition of the paint or enamel on the
inside, and any other visible e%-idence of the
transmission of heat; and sdso covering the
stabihty of the safe or cabinet as evidenced by
the security of the internal equipment, the
locks, and the fastenings between the parts.

The safe or cabinet is then taken apart and
examinations made covering the suitabiUty of
the form and arrangement of the parts for the
purposes intended, the suitability of the ma-
terials and workmanship, the abihty of the
parts to resist corrosion, the strength of the
parts and the assembled device, and the uni-
formity of the parts, as evidenced by the
condition of the parts and the materials affect-
ing the heat insulating properties and stability
of the safe or cabinet.

The obser\-ations made during the penod the
safe or cabinet is exposed to fire, including all
temperature readings, are regularly recorded at
5 minute inter\-als during the first hour and
thereafter at intervals not exceeding 15 minutes.

The results obtained in the Fire Test are
studied to ascertain compliance with the
standard requirements given in Section III.

Table of Standard Furnace Temperatures

Time

Tei

5 mins.

1000-

10 "

1.300

15 "

1400

20 "

1460

25 "

1510

30 "

1550

35 "

ISSO

40 •*

1610

45 "

1640

60 "

IGoO

65 "

16S0

60 "

1700

Time

Temps.

75 mins.

1750= F.

90 "

1790 "

105 "

1S20 "

120 "

ISoO "

135 "

1&70 "

150 "

1890 "

165 "

1910 "

180 "

1925 "

195 "

1940 "

210 "

1960 "

225 "

1980 "

240 "

2000 "

Impact Test. The large size safe submitted
for test is subjected to the Standard Impact
Test in which the safe is heated and dropped 30
feet in the clear on a rip rap of broken bricks.

The safe is first placed on the truck formmg
the bottom of the furnace, papers and records
placed in the inside of the test sample, the heat
measuring instruments installed in the furnace
and connected, the doors of the test sample and
furnace closed and locked and the fire started.

The test sample is exposed to the standard
fire conditions for one hour, the observations
during this period being the same as in the Fire
Test except the temperatures in the interior
of the safe are not measured. The furnace is
then opened, the truck carrying the safe drawn

out into the yard, and the safe immediately
hoisted until the bottom is 30 feet above the rip
rap of brick and dropped.

After the safe has cooled to normal tempera-
tures, examinations are made covering its
stability, as evidenced by any bulging, buck-
ling, binding or separations affecting the tight-
ness of closure at the doors or between the parts;
or by any bending, breakage or collapse of the
parts affecting the security of the fastenings
between the parts or the strength of the as-
sembled device.

The safe is then placed bottom upward on
the truck, reinstalled in the test furnace and
again subjected to the standard fire conditions
for one hour, after which the safe is drawn from

271

A Symbol of Safety

the furnace and allowed to cool to normal tem-
peratures. The observations during the period
the safe is exposed to fire are the same as in the
Fire Test, except that the temperatures in the
interior of the safe are not measured.

After the safe has cooled to norma' tempera-
ture, examinations are again made covering its
stability. The doors are then forced open and
examination made covering the heat insulating
projx'rties, as evidenced by the legibility and
usability of the records on the inside, the con-
dition of the paint or enamel on the inside, and
any other evidence of the transmission of heat;
and also covering the stability of the safe as
evidenced by the security of the internal equip-
ment, the locks, the fastenings between the
parts, and the condition of the parts.

The safe is then taken apart and examina-
tions made similar to those at the end of the
Fire Test.

The results obtained in the Impact Test are
studied to ascertain compliance with the stand-
ard requirements given in Section III.

Fire Stream Test. When the results
obtained in the Fire or Impact Tests are such
as to indicate that the heat insulation or
stability of the safe or insulated cabinet under
investigation would be materially affected by
the impact or contraction due to rapid cooling
by fire streams, a medium size safe or cabinet is
subjected to a Fire Stream Test in which the
test sample is heated and then rapidly cooled
by the application of a stream of water.

The safe or cabinet is exposed to standard
fire conditions for at least one hour. The
furnace is then opened, the truck carrj'ing the
test sample drawn out into the yard, and a i;-
inch stream of water immediately applied to the
test sample for 5 minutes. The stream is
directed against each of the sides from a dis-
tance of 30 feet, changes in the direction of the
stream being made slowly. The pressure at
the inlet to the nozzle is maintained at 50 pounds
per square inch throughout the test.

The observations during the period the test
sample is exposed to fire are the same as during
the F'ire Test, except that the temperatures on
the inside of the test sample may not be meas-
ured.

Observations are made during and after the
application of the stream covering the effect of
the impact of the stream and the rapid cooling
on the strength and stability of the safe, or
cabinet as evidenced by bulging, buckling, warij-
ing, or bending of the parts, or breakage or
lack of security in the fastenings between the
parts.

The doors are then forced open and examina-
tions made covering the effect of the stream on
the heat insulating properties of the safe or
cabinet, as evidenced by any separations at the
doors or between the parts affecting the tight-
ness of closure, or presence of water in the
joints between the parts.

The results obtained in the Fire Stream Test
are studied to ascertain compliance with the
standard requirements given in Section III.

Examinations at Factory. The factory
where the safes or insulated cabinets are manu-
factured is visited by Laboratories' engineers
from the head office or nearest branch office for
the purpose of obtaining general information
regarding the manufacturer and the facilities
provided for the manufacture of the safes or
cabinets, and detailed information relating to
those features of factory equipment and or-
ganization that have a bearing on the quality
of materials employed, the character of the
workmanship, the uniformity of the finished

product, and the practicability of the methods
of packing and shipping the finished product.

The materials arc examined before and after
the product is finished, to ascertain their uni-
formity and general suitability for the purposes
for which they are intended.

The machinery and tools are inspected, the
methods of manufacture studied, and the
finished product examined to ascertain the
accuracy with which the product is made and
the degree of smoothness with which it is
finished.

The facilities for checking the product for
uniformity are examined in respect to their
practicability and accuracy.

The method of packing the finished product
for shipment is examined and studied with
respect to its practicabiUty.

The results obtained during the Examina-
tions at the Factory are studied to ascertain
compliance with the standard requirements
given in Section III.

Field Inspections. If the safe or cabinet
is being used commercially, inspections of
actual installations in the field may be made by
representatives of the Laboratories, preference
being given to those installations most con-
venient to the main or branch offices.

These inspections include examinations to
obtain information relative to the practicability
of the methods employed in packing and
shipping the safes or cabinets, as evidenced by
their condition after they are received at the
building; and examinations to obtain informa-
tion relative to the practicability of installing
the safes or cabinets, as evidenced by the facili-
ties for such operations as hauling, handhng,
hoisting, transporting the safes or cabinets over
the floors and installing them in position. The
methods of installation advocated by the manu-
facturer are studied during these exsaminations.

The safes or cabinets are examined after
installation with reference to the workmanship,
as evidenced by the accuracy of the fits and
clearances between the parts; with reference to
the practicability of operating the moving
parts, as evidenced by the ease with which
these parts can be operated ; and with reference
to the strength and rigidity of the assembled
parts, as evidenced by any binding between the
moving parts due to distortions or changes in
the fits and clearances.

When similar safes or cabinets have been in
service in the buildings in which these inspec-
tions are made, investigation is made covering
the character of service rendered during the
period they have been in use. This investiga-
tion follows the procedure given under the title
Service Record.

The results obtained during the Field Inspec-
tions are studied to ascertain compliance with
the Standard requirements given in Section III.

Service Record. If the safe or cabinet has
been used commercially for any considerable
time, a list of purchasers is obtained from the
manufacturer and letters sent to the users
requesting information relative to the general
suitability of the safe or cabinet for the purposes
for which it was intended, and the character of
the service it has given under the existing con-
ditions.

Specific information is requested relative to
the practicability of operating the movable
parts; the practicability of making repairs or
renewals; the ability of the safe or cabinet to
withstand the wear and tear and deteriorating
influences to which it has been subjected; its
ability to withstand the stresses to which it has
been subjected; and where several safes or

272

Appendix XIII

cabinets have been used, the degree of uniform-
ity in the results obtained in service.

In case the safe or cabinet has been exposed
to fire, specific information is requested regard-
ing the intensity and duration of the fire to
which it was exjxised, its effectiveness in pre-
venting loss of the contents, and the character
and extent of the damage to the safe or cabinet.

The information obtained as a result of the
investigation of the Service Record is studied in
connection with the results of the other tests
and investigations to ascertain compliance with
the standard requirements given in Section III.

Report and Inspection Service Specifica-
tions. At the conclusion of the tests and in-
vestigations the report to the Fire Council of
the Laboratories or the submittor is prepared.
When the safe or cabinet has been found to
comply \tith the requirements of the standard
of construction and performance under tests
for one or more of the classes given in Section
III, and the Fire Council has concurred in the
recommendations in the report, detailed speci-
fications are prepared for use by inspectors
assigned to conduct examinations under the
Label Service.

SECTION III

UNDERWRITERS' LABOR-\TORIES' CLASSIFICATION
OF SAFES AND INSULATED CABINETS

Safes and Insulated Cabinets are classified according to their fire
retardant and impact resistive properties asfolloivs:

CLASS A Includes safes that are effective against severe fires for at

Least four hours, and fairly heavy impacts from falliyig

or from falling bodies.
CLASS B Includes safes that are effective against severe fires for at

least two hours, and fairly heavy impacts from falling or

from falling bodies.
CLASS C Includes safes that are effective against severe fires for at

least one hour, and fairly heavy impacts from falling or

from falling bodies.
INSULATED CABINETS Includes cabinets that are effective

against fires of moderate severity for at least 45 minutes,

and that are 7iot subject to impacts from falling or from

falling bodies.

Underwriters' Laboratories' Standard of Construction

and Performance Under Tests for Safes and

Insulated Cabinets

Safes and Insulated Cabinets complying with
the following requirements are entitled to
classification as standard in their respective
classes.

Safes and Insulated Cabinets embodying
forms of construction other than those indicated
in this section are examined and tested under
the standard and, if found to give equivalent
results, receive recognition accordingly.

Design and Construction: (a) To em-
body insulated walls and doors, substantial
hinges and locking mechanism, substantial
casters, wheels or bsise and suitable internal
equipment for the contents.

(b) The form and arrangement of the parts
and the materials to be such that the parts and
the assembled safes or cabinets will be practic-
able, durable, capable of safely withstanding
the stresses and exposure to fire to which they
are subject in the class of service for which they
are advocated, and capable of being uniformly
manufactured in commercial quantities.

ic) The parts to be formed, assembled and
finished with the degree of accuracy, precision
and uniformity necessarj' to furnish the requi-
site properties for safes or cabinets of good,
reliable quality for the class of service for which
they are advocated.

Practicability: (a) Safes or cabinets to
be so designed and constructed that they can be
handled, transported and installed, without
serious injury, by the class of workmen to whom
this work is ordinarily intrusted.

(b) Safes or cabinets to be so designed and
constructed that the doors, locking mechanism
and other movable parts can be reliably op-
erated without undue effort by those to whom
the operation of such devices is ordinarily
intrusted.

(c) Saies or cabinets to be so designed and
constructed that the doors, locking mechanism,
interior equipment and other movable parta
can be repaired or renewed, but not necessarily
by those unskilled in such devices.

273

A Symbol of Safety

Durability: (a) Safes or cabinets to be so
designed and constructed that they will with-
stand without material deterioration for in-
definitely long periods the wear and tear of
ordinary use.

(6) Safes or cabinets to be so designed, con-
structed and protected that they will withstand
without material deterioration for indefinitely
long p>eriods the inside and outside corrosive
influences to which they are subject in the class
of service for which they are advocated.

(c) Heat insulating materials used in safes
or cabinets to be free from sweating or swelling
and capable of retaining their heat insulating
properties for indefinitely long periods.

Strength: (a) The parts and the assem-
bled safe or cabinet to be siifiiciently strong and
rigid to withstand the stresses to which they
are subject during handling, shipping and
installation without material injury or the
deveUpment of distortions or changes in the
fits and clearances that will materially affect
the strength of the assembled device or the
reliability of operation of the movable parts.

(6) The parts and the assembled safe or
cabinet to be sufficiently strong and rigid to
withstand the stresses to which they are subject
when the movable parts are repeatedly op-
erated, without the development of distortions
or changes in the fits and clearances that will
materially affect the reliability of operation of
the movable parts.

(c) The parts and the assembled safe or
cabinet to be so designed and constructed that
they will withstand the stresses occasioned by
the Fire Test for the respective classes without
bulging, buckling, warping, fusion, disintegra-
tion or other developments that will vitally
affect the security of the locks and fastenings
between the parts, or the strength of the parts
or the assembled safe or cabinet.

(d) The parts and the assembled safe or
cabinet to be so designed and constructed that
they will withstand the stresses occasioned by
the Fire Stream Test without bulging, buckling,
warping or other developments that will
vitally affect the security of the locks and fast-
enings between the parts, or the strength of the
parts or the assembled safe or cabinet.

(e) The parts and the assembled safe to be
so designed and constructed that they will
withstand the stresses occasioned by the Impact
Test without bending, distortions, displace-
ments, ruptures or other developments that
will vitally affect the security of the locks and
fastenings between the parts, or the strength of
the parts or the assembled safe.

Fire Retardant Properties: (a) The
different classes of safes and the insulated
cabinets to withstand the Standard Fire Test
for the following periods before the highest
indicated internal temperature reaches 300
degrees Fahrenheit, without destroying the
legibility of the records stored on the inside,
and without the development of separations or
temperature effects on the inside or disintegra-
tion of the parts or materials that clearly in-
dicate conditions likely to vitally affect the
tightness of closure or the heat insulating prop-
erties of the safe or cabinet.

Class A Safes at least 4 hours.
Class B Safes at least 2 hours.
Class C Safes at least 1 hour.
Insulated Cabinets at least } hour.
(6) All classes of safes to withstand the
Standard Impact Test without destroying the
usability of the records stored on the inside,
and without the development of temperature
effects on the inside, separations, distortions,
displacements, ruptures or other developments
that clearly indicate conditions likely to vitally
aff'ct the tightness of closure or the heat in-
sulating properties of the safe.

(c) All classes of safes, and insulated cabi-
nets, to be capable of withstanding the Stand-
ard Fire Stream Test without destroying the
usability of the records stored on the inside,
and without the development of temperature
effects on the inside, or structural weakness
that clearly indicate conditions likely to vitally
affect the tightness of closure or the heat insu-
lating properties of the safe or cabinet.

Uniformity: The parts and the finished
safes or cabinets to be so designed that they
can be made in commercial quantities with a
sufficient degree of uniformity to prevent any
material variation in their ease of operation, dur-
ability, strength, and fire retardant properties.

SECTION IV

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE
LABEL SERVICE PROCEDURE

This section of the Standard treats of features of the Label
Service form of follow-up which, except for minor modifica-
iions, are common to all industries utilizing the Service.

Underwriters' Laboratories' Label

Service as Applied Generally

to All Industries

Purpose of the Label Service. The Label
Service is designed to provide a means whereby
materials, classified as standard by the Labora-
tories as the result of examination and test of
samples, are so constructed that the specified
standards of quality and performance are main-
tained for product placed on the market and
whereby such product may be readily identified
by purchasers, property owners, inspection
authorities and others interested.

Scope of the Label Service. The Label
Service consists of:

(a) Factory Inspection Work: — Inspections
of Products at factories and the labeling of
standard product.
And in addition where practicable, of
(6) Field Follow-up Work: — Check tests on
labeled product when reviewed where in-
stalled.
(c) Schedule Estimates: — Showing compara-
tive demerits noted on labeled products.
Experience has shown that the Label Service
is in every way superior for the purpose of

274

Appendix XIII

bringing to the consumer the article he desires,
for the purpose of placing competition between
manufacturers beyond the point where dete-
rioration in the quality of the output is made
necessary, and for the proper protection of the
Laboratories and the organizations co-operating
with it which are giving substantial recogni-
tion to efficient fire protection and accident
prevention appliances.

It has also been shown that an inspection and
checking system of this nature can be efficiently
operated under the Laboratories' direction
without calling upon the manufacturer to give
undue publicity to his manufacturing processes
or subjecting him to embarrassment or annoy-
ance.

Labeled products are not necessarily uniform
in quality or merit. Labeling indicates only
compliance with the Standards of the Labora-
tories for the product.

The Factory Inspection Work. The pur-
pose of the Factory Inspection Work is to make
examinations and tests at factories of material
prepared for the market and to supervise the
use of labels on the product.

Labels are applied at the factory by the
manufacturer, to such of his output as conforms
in all respects to the Standards of the Labora-
tories for the product, as shown by his own

examination and tests, subject to the results of
the examination and tests made by the in-
spector. The label thus serves as evidence of
proper construction of the goods at the factory.
An inspector appointed by UnderwTiters'
Laboratories visits the factory as often as
occasion demands for the purpose of making
examination of material prepared for shipment
and making supplementary tests as outlined
in the Standards of the Laboratories for the
product.

Necessary Co-operation from Manu-
facturers in Factory Inspection Worlc.

The low cost at which the Label Service ia
carried on makes it apparent that the fullest
measure of co-operation is essential on the part
of the manufacturer in instructing his em-
ployees to construct for labeling none other
than duplicates of the standard sample. The
Service is principally designed to sen'e as a
formal check on the Supervision which the
manufacturer exercises over the character and
quality of his output. It is not designed to
relieve the manufacturer of responsibility and
cannot be utilized in cases where the desire for
earnest co-operation is not manifest.

The Procedure in the Factory Inspection
Work for the product covered by these Stand-
ards is given in Section V following.

Appeals on Standards and Conclusions Based Thereon

Courses of Appeal. UnderwTiters' Lab-
oratories aims to secure the best and fairest
opinion with respect to the merits of appli-
ances, devices and materials submitted for its
review and to have its work so carried on as to
insure accuracy and uniformity in its findings.
One of the measures adopted to assist in accom-
plishing these aims is the provision made for
appeals from its findings by any client who may
feel that the conclusions reached by the Lab-
oratories as the result of either the original
examination and test for listing, or the subse-
quent examinations and tests in the Inspection
Service, or other methods of follow-up fail to
give full recognition to the claims made for the
appliance, device or material, in-so-far as these
relate to the fire or accident hazard, or that the
Standards, test methods or procedure are in-
correct, or that the methods and practices in
the conduct of the Service are lacking in
efficiency, integrity or good faith.

National Bureau of Standards of the
Department of Commerce. Where the ques-
tion involved relates to the correctness of
test methods and procedures and the con-
clusions based thereon, or has to do with similar
features of the conduct of the technical work,
an appeal may be taken to the National
Bureau of Standards of the Department of
Commerce at Washington, D. C. There exists
a permanent arrangement between the Bureau
of Standards and Underw-riters* Laboratories
whereby the Bureau consents to act on such
appeals and whereby the Laboratories agrees in
advance to accept the decision of the Bureau as
to the correctness of its findings on these tech-
nical matters.

Industry Conferences. For a number of
industries, conferences are established consist-
ing of the proper members of the Laboratories
Staff and representative committees of manu-
facturers to the end that full information as to
examination and test methods may be trans-
mitted to industries served by the Inspection
Service and the views of the industrj' as a whole
on such items be secured. The manufacturers'

representatives on such industry conferences
are usually nominated by the manufacturers
through their associations, when such exist.
Such a conference has referred to it by the Lab-
oratories or by any individual manufacturer
in the industry employing the Inspection Ser-
vice, questions relating to the Standards under
which the service is carried on, and exercises a
general super\-ision over the Ser\'ice for the
industry it represents. The business of such a
Conference is transacted by correspondence
and by meetings held from time to time.

Appeals in Case of Disagreement. The
practices and procedure in the conduct of the
Inspection Service are defined for each individ-
ual industry in the Standards of the Labora-
tories for the product.

The agents of Underwriters' Laboratories at
its several branch oiBces are authorized to pass
as standard devices or materials found as the
result of their inspections at factories to be in
conformity with the requirements of the Stand-
ards and the description in the Laboratories
record.

In case the manufacturer judges that author-
ization should be given for other standard goods
ex-amined, he should proceed as follows:

Appeal to Underwriters' Laboratories.

1. The manufacturer should immediately
advise the Superintendent of the Label Service
at the principal office of the Laboratories at
Chicago (Preferably by telegraph). Promptly
following the receipt of such advices, the
Laboratories will send a Special Agent or one
of its head office engineers to the manufacturer's
plant to adjust the matter.

2. In case the Special Agent, head office
engineer, or the Superintendent of Label Ser-
vice is unable to satisfy the manufacturer in
the matter of his complaint, the manufacturer
should then lay the matter in writing before the
President of the Laboratories.

'.ia. In case this does not bring a satisfactory
adjustment, a further appeal may without
delay, be made to the Board of Directors of the
Laboratories, or as an alternative;

275

A Symbol of Safety

Appeal to a Board of Arbitration. 2b.

Where the question at issue does not involve
changes in adopted Standards, but concerns the
competency of officers, agents, or employees of
either party, or the methods employed by them
to the detriment of the other, as follows:
(w) Unnecessary delays or negligence.
i. By the Laboratories in maldng inspec-
tions.
2. By the Manufacturer in correcting ad-
mitted defects, or in providing and
using suitable testing appliances.
(x) Lack of integrity or of good faith by

either party.
(y) Ignorance by either party of Standards
accepted by the Laboratories and the
manufacturer.
(») Prejudice or favoritism by either party.
It ia optional with the manufacturer or with
the Laboratories to elect in place of "3a" to
have charges of the nature of those described
above (not involving changes in adopted
Standards) passed upon by a Board of Arbitra-
tion made up of three members, as follows:

One member to be chosen by the Mcinufac-
turer.

One member to be chosen by the Laboratories.

These two to choose the third.

The decision of this Board of Arbitration on

the question of competency or conduct of the
officers, agents or employees shall be final, the
party against whom the decision is given shall
pay the costs of the Board, and where lack of
competency or improper conduct is shown, the
servant or servants responsible therefor shall
be reprimanded or discharged.

Whenever the finding is against Underwriters'
Laboratories and Label Service has been sus-
pended at the manufacturer's plant it shall be
immediately resumed if desired by him.

Whenever the finding is against the manu-
facturer. Label Service will be resumed when
the conditions which have been complained of
are corrected by the manufacturer in a manner
permitting proper operation of the service.

Appeal to Industry Conference. 3c.
Questions of general interest to the industry as
a whole and having to do with the Laboratories
activities in the field of the industry may be
brought for consideration to the Industry Con-
ference. The Industry Conference is ready to
serve as a Board of Arbitration on questions
which may arise in the conduct of the Factory
Inspection Work and either the manufacturer
or the Laboratories may elect to refer questions
at issue to the Conference rather than to a
Board of Arbitration selected as previously
described.

Label Service

Cost of the Label Service. The cost of the
Label Service is defrayed by charges made for
the labels. These charges vary according to
the nature and extent of the inspection needed.
For goods which can be tested by machinery or
which are machine made and run through fac-
tories in such quantities that tests of a number
of samples of each day's output give a fair
criterion of the whole product, the charges run
from fifty cents ($0.50) to one dollar and a half
($1.50) per thousand labels. For goods made
by hand and goods which require inspection or
test of each individual device, the charges run
from seven and one-half cents ($0.07J) to fifty
cents ($0.50) per label. In no case is the cost
of the Service as represented by the charge for
the label sufficient to become a factor of im-
portance in determining the selling price of the
article labeled.

The cost of labels for the product which is
the subject of this Standard is as given in
Section III following. The price charged for
the labels covers the following costs:

1. The cost of making and handling the

labels.

2. Time and carfares of inspectors at fac-

tories.

3. Proportionate part of the following costs:
w. Special Agent Work.

X. Home office supervision of conduct of

Label Service.
y. Countercheck testing and research

work.
s. Overhead charges.
Regular Service. The names of manu-
facturers regularly employing the Label Service
in each separate industry are carried in the
records of the Laboratories, and all such manu-
facturers are freely consulted in aU matters
concerning Standards of construction and in-
spection of the product of that industry.

In order that the Laboratories may maintain
an efficient inspection and the requisite famil-
iarity with the affairs of each industry it is
necessary that they be assured a minimum
amount from the yearly use of labels by each
manufacturer.

The cost of the Label Service in each sep-
arate industry is based upon the expectation
that the payments of each manufacturer in-
cluded in the industry list will aggregate at
least Thrity-six Dollars ($36.00) for each
calendar year. If the amount paid for labels
during a calendar year shall be less than Thirty-
six Dollars ($36.00) the manufacturer is re-
quired to make up the difference between said
Thirty-six Dollars ($36.00) and the sums al-
ready paid in during the year for such labels.

The minimum "Ready to Serve" charge of
Thirty-six Dollars per year is calculated to
cover participation in the Laboratories' deal-
ings with the industry, and the cost of a neces-
sary minimum number of inspections, where
few, if any, labels are used.

Underwriters' Laboratories is for service,
not profit, and charges for this Service only the
actual cost thereof. Label prices are from time
to time adjusted accordingly.

Limited Service. A manufacturer who
does not care to participate in the Laboratories'
deahngs with an industry (including carrying
his name in the records, consultation on Stand-
ard, etc.) and who anticipates using each year
less than Thirty-six Dollars ($36.00) worth of
labels, may obtain inspections of and labels for
a single article or small lot of the article at such
rates as will cover the Laboratories cost for the
service rendered in each case.

The basis of charge for the Service shall be a
function of the cost of such service under the
specific conditions rendered within reasonable
limits and shall be paid by the manufacturer
■within thirty (30) days after the rendering of
bills for such ser\'ice by the Laboratories. A
reasonable basis of charge for Service is hereby
defined to be as a rate of two dollars ($2.00)
per hour per man, calculated according to the
number of hours which in the judgment of the
Laboratories were necessarily spent in the in-
spection work at the factory and in addition
the time and other expenses of the inspector for
traveling to and from the factory together with
the cost of countercheck tests made at a testing
station of the Laboratories, when such testa

276

Appendix XIII

are called for in the Procedure. In addition
the usual charge for labels will apply when
labels are delivered.

Such Limited Seri'ice is. of course, available
only after the manufacturer's device or ma-
terial has been reviewed by the Laboratories
and has been classified according to the same
procedure and under the same Standards as
apply to similar products under the Regular
Service.

Serial Numbers on Labels. The serial
numbers on the labels are for the purpose of
countercheck by the Laboratories. A record
is kept, by means of these numbers, of the
manufacturer to whom they are issued, the date
of issue and the approximate date of use. It is
not required that manufacturers shall keep
record of these serial numbers.

Use of Labels in the Order of Their
Serial Numbers. Manufacturers are urged
to use the labels in the consecutive order of
their serial numbers so far as is possible.

Deliveries and Use of Labels. Stocks of
labels are kept at each of the several Branch
Offices of Underwriters' Laboratories. Labels
•will be delivered from these stocks to factories
located within the territory of the Branch Office
promptly following receipt of order stating the
number of labels desired. Pajinent for labels
is to be in advance in aU cases, and orders for
labels should be accompanied by remittances
drawn payable to UNDERWTIITERS' LAB-
ORATORIES.

Labels will be supplied from the nearest
office of the Underwriters' Laboratories, which
in the case of the manufacturer indicated on
the front page of these Standards, is

In order that proper supervision of the use of
labels may be had by Underwriters' Labora-

tories through its authorized inspector, it is
required that labels be applied to products only
in the factory in which the products are made
and before shipment from the factor^'. The
cost of the Label Service (covered by the price
charged for the labels) does not anticipate
supervision of the labeling of the product at
other than the factory' (i.e., not in manufac-
turer's, jobber's or dealers' warehouses, etc)
and labels so used will not be recognized and
when found will be cancelled and inspection
authorities and others so notified. Similarly,
deliveries of labels by one factory to another
whether under common management or not,
will result in special conditions being estab-
lished with regard to future use of labels in
either plant.

I'se of Name of Underwriters' Labora-
tories. Manufacturers shall not make use of
the name of the Laboratories or an abbrevia-
tion, symbol or any equivalent thereof (other
than that which appears on the Label itselO
on products proWded, however, that subject to
the approval of the Laboratories as to wording
and method of attachment the manufacturer
may refer, on the package, carton or other
container in which the product bearing the
inspection label is packed for shipment or sale
to the fact that the original contents of the
package, carton or other contcdner bears the
Laboratories' inspection label.

The label is evidence of inspection at the
factory in which the products are made. We
do not permit subscribers to furnish labels
for attachment in the field either by them-
selves or by their customers. Violation of
the foregoing rules will result in suspension
of label service and the institution of spe-
cial conditions regarding their future use.

SECTION V

PROCEDURE FOR INSPECTION AT FACTORIES AND
THE USE OF LABELS ON SAFES (CLASS )

Labels for Safes (Class )

Design:— The labels for CL.ASS SAFES
are of etched brass and are |-in. wide by Z\
inches long. They are of the general appear-
ance and design as shown below

Underwriters' Laboratories
INSPECTED SAFE
Class No.

Labels as issued are serially numbered. The
labels are furnished in packages of 100 labels
each and are provided with two 1-16 in. holes
for attaching, holes being spaced 3-1-16 in. on
centers.

ApDlication of Labels: — The labels are
secured to the device by at least two rivets or
screws wth heads headed over after attaching,
where they will be visible. One label is used
for each Scife, and they are applied by the man-

ufacturer to such of his product as is judged to
conform to the foregoing specifications.

Price Charged for Labels: — The price of
labels for SAFES CLASS is now 150.00 per
100 labels.

Privileges of Inspectors. The inspector
shall have free access, during hours in which the
factory is in of>€ration, to the test room,
assigned to his use, and to store or shipping
rooms for finished labeled products. It will
be his privilege to inspect and subject to pre-
scribed examinations and tests, prior to ship-
ment, any or all product which is labeled or
which is intended to be labeled; and the manu-
facturers must grant to him all necessarj- rights
and privileges and provide all necessary ap-
pliances and assistance for such purpose.

General Instructions to Inspectors

Conduct at Factory. The inspector shall
refrain from conversing with any employee of
the manufacturer other than the person or
persons designated by the manufacturer to
receive his comments. The inspector will
avoid entering any portion of the factory where

-77

A Symbol of Safety

the necessities of his work do not require his
presence.

Correspondence. Copies of all letters from
the manufacturer to the Inspector must be
promptly forwarded to the Laboratories.

Labels. The inspector shall see that the
use of labels is confined to product complying
with the Specifications of the Standards and
•with the Description of the product of the
manufacturer. The inspector is not authorized
to allow labels to be used on any product not
covered by the Description, except as the result
of special advice to him and to the manufac-
turer from the Chicago testing station of the
Laboratories.

Duties of Inspectors. The inspector's
principal duty is to satisfy himself that all
products shipped from the factory with the
label attached, conforms in all essentials with
the Specifications of the Standards and with
th« Description for the product of the manu-
facturer. It will usually be the case that the
manufacturer's program of production, in-
spection, test and shipping is well known to the
inspector, and may be regarded as largely
assuring uniformity of output from day to day.
Hence, under normal conditions the inspector's
work will be that of counter checking, the
product already passed by the manufacturer as
suitable for labeling. When and while these
conditions do not obtain, the inspector may be
advised by the Superintendent of Label Ser-
vice as to the special procedure to be followed.

Inspectors' Reports

GeneraL The inspector will report on
form on yellow paper, like sample following, the
results of examinations and tests made by him
at each factory inspection. Under normal
conditions copies of this report will not be
furnished to the manufacturer by the inspector.
It shall be understood, however, that test re-
sults shall become a part of the manufacturer's
permanent test record.

A report must be made out for each inspec-
tion as soon as possible after a visit to the
factory and be promptly forwarded to the
Chicago Office for review.

The inspector will clearly indicate in reports
all sub-standard features developed in the
examination or tests. Criticisms or sugges-
tions made by the inspector to the manufactur-
er shall be in writing and if given orally shall be
confirmed at once in writing in all cases. For
all such confirmations form L.S. Genl. 1 on pink
paper like the sample following sliall be em-
ployed.

Filling in Report Forms

First Page of Report Form. Fill in com-
pletely as indicated.

"Ref. No." refers to the Laboratories classi-
fication (the letters E., R., Ex., MH., etc., are
used to denote "Electrical," "Retardant,"
"Extinguisher," "Miscellaneous Hazard," etc.,
under which the product is listed by the Lab-
oratories and to the file number of the Labora-
tories record on the construction and tests of
the original samples.

"Serial No." refers to the number of the
inspection or report in the numerical order of
the inspections and reports which have been
made at this factory during a given year on the
product covered by these Standards.

Always fill in the date onVhich the inspection
was made and give the name and address of the
manufacturer in full.

Undei "Criticisms" give a summary (in the

form of a carbon copy of the "notice of defects"
letter to the manufacturer) of the sub-standard
features, including, if any, failures in tests
noted in the detailed examinations and tests
in the inspection being reported upon. These
features are to be noted also under the individ-
ual headings on the other pages of the report
form.

Fill in blank spaces under this heading as
indicated.

All criticisms must be reported immediately
and in writing to the factory management,
using the special pink paper form, L.S. Genl. 1
or "Notice of Defects" provided for the pur-
pose. When using this form the inspector
shall arrange that a carbon copy of the advices
given thereon shall be made on the regular
report form under the heading "Criticisms."
The spacings on the form are arranged so that
this may be done readily.

Under "Summary of Tests and Failures"
the inspector shall give the number of tests
made and the number of failures obtained in the
inspection being reported upon.

Under "Labels" give the information called
for. The serial number of the labels are to be
given also under the individual headings on the
other pages of the report form.

Under "General Remarks and Recommenda-
tions" the inspector may advise as to his
general impressions of the progress of the in-
spection work at this factory and any items of
general interest. When criticisms are made, he
should briefly state whatever suggestions or
recommendations he may have as to the way
the situation should be handled, supplementing
the same usually by letter or telegram. If he
has, himself, taken any action the report should
so indicate. The inspector should advise
briefly of improvements made in features crit-
icised in this or previous reports and of general
improvements in the workmanship of the ma-
terial and in the arrangement and character of
test apparatus, etc.

"Signature": — The report should be signed
by the inspector making the inspection and the
name of the branch office at which he is sta-
tioned should be given together with the time
and carfare charged for the inspection.

Other Paftes of the Report Form. The
inspector shall fill in the form as indicated with
the data secured as a result of examinations
and tests upon product reviewed by him on the
date of the inspection being reported upon.

Inspectors must always fill in forms with all
of the information asked for if it has been ob-
tained. A dash or blank in report form is
understood to indicate that the inspector has
no information to furnish on the point in ques-
tion. When possible, answer briefly by "Yes"
or "No" or "O.K." or by the figures or other
data called for.

The information given by the inspector on
the report form should usually be only that
obtained on the date of the report and usually
only that obtained as a result of examination of
the devices being reported upon. In some in-
stances it is desirable, however, that stocks of
materials held by the manufacturer and in-
tended for use in the construction of labeled
devices shall be gone over, especially as new
supplies are received. If the information
given is the result of observation of stocks of
materials not yet assembled the inspector
should make a statement to that effect on the
report form.

Sub-standard features are to be noted also
on the first page of the report form under
"Criticisms."

278

Appendix XIII

B«wy« boa Bnaob Qtftc* la

OicoftlUK of lupKlorJ

Itflt* of In»p. Brf. No. S*r. No, of Kr

Chdrife* For Thu Ingpeciinn

Labels

It pr«"rtoo« Inypfrcti""

Are UbeU 08£d In order of Ser. Nos.7

Ser. No*, of labds removed from rejoctel
r rod act? .

Die L&bel of form and sue cpecifled?

Vr&£ it looted as specified? ^__^
W« wording la^tblrf

Summary of Tests and Failtnres

Ho. of Na of

DBTAIL Sample* Swiplca

TWSULATCD CABIKETS (72)
LIGHT WEIGHT SAFE

Manufacturer

Samples to Chicago Office

5 Eip. I ( Prepaid

Htm SUpTwd \p,recl Post ] \ Collect

Dau 00 vbich Ust previous eamples were

POSTING
CHECK

UNDERWRITERS' LABORATORIES

FACTORY INSPECTION REPORT

EXAMIKER'S
CHECS

LABEL SERVICE WORK

CriticUms. Were all the details marked oo the other pages of this re port^c becked by you on
product inspected on this date?... ^.. W^re substandard features noted in eny samples?......

To whom were the criticisms orally reoorted?.

Was the oral report confirmed on "defect notices" to manufacturer?...

General Remarks oimI Recommendatiofis Were substandard features corrected on

all samDtesf.».....^... Or were labels removed? -. If not, explain action taken,

Um wtecfttb wbMcwcr iteie isertfM m«_4 tot fffott«i sctiee br ilM Cbici«e.0flic*J|

SUUMARV
POSTING
CHECK

First page of Factory Inspection Report

279

A Symbol of Safety

INSULATED CABINET
LIGHT WEIGHT SAFE

SIZES

I width
depth
height
area of walls
length of door joints

MECHANICAL CONSTRUCTION

(outer shell
inner shell
doors

Are sections formed as specified?

Axe sections reinforced as specified?

(outer shell
inner shell
doors

Are Jamba, silL and lintel sections form and dimen. spec.?
Are stile and rail sections of doors of form and dimen. spec.?
Are these sections reinforced as spec, at holes for latch bars?

(outer shell
inner shell
doora

Is inner shell secured to outer sheU as specified?

back
Are walls of body of the thickness specified? sides

top
bottom

Are walls of doors of the thickness specified?

Are caps, if any, formed as specified?

Are caps, and moldings, if any, secured as specified?

Are doors supplied in pairs as specified?

Are special features, if any, provided as specified? (See supplementary sheet)

HEAT INSULATION

Is composition of the insulation as specified?

Is the thickness of the insulation as specified?
Is the insuJatioQ free from excess moisture?

sides

top

bottom

back

doors

r sides
top

Is' the insulation secured in plaice as specified? j bottom

J back
l.doois

Light

Weight

Safes

Second page oj Factory Inspection Report
280

Appendix XIII

Is the insulation reinforced as specified?

Is the insulation free from objectionable de-
fects?

k the insulation of the walls as complete as
required?

Are the joints between sections of insulation
jnade tight and as specified?

{body
doors
fbody
\ doors

HARDWARE
Hinges

Are these of the material specified?

Are they of the form and dimensions specified?

Are they spaced as specified?

Are they secured to body and doors as specified?

Latchinf Mechanism

Are the latch bars of the form and dimen. spec.?

Is operating mech. for single doors of form and dimen. spec.?

la operating mech. for "standing" doors of form and dimen. spec.?

Is operating mech. for "swinging" doors of form and dimen. spec?

Are latching mech. secured to doors as spec?

Do latch bars project at least i-inch from door edges?

Locks

Are combination and key locks, when used of design spec.t
Are they secured to doors as specified?

Casters

Are these of the material specified?

Are they of the form and dimensions spec.?

Are they spaced as specified?

Are they secured to body as specified?

FINISH

How is metal protected against corrosion?

INTERIOR FITTINGS

Are supports for shehnng. partitions, etc., when provided made and attached to
inner shell as specified?

WORKMANSHIP

Comment on tvorkmanship as skoion by:
Completeness of insulation of shells
Fit of sections of inner shell
Effectiveness of riveting and welding operations
Ease of operation of latching mechanism
Fit of latch bars in catches
Fit of doors with body oo face and at rabbets

MARKINGS

Is each finished cabinet- aod ulS'OUU'ked with the name or trade mark of the
jnanufacturer?

Ine.
Cab.

, Light

Weight

Safes

Third page of Factory Inspection Report
281

A Symbol of Safety

^^Wjlr INCORPORATCO t^o* "*

CMICAOO. rOT C 6Ni0ft.

WW vWtH, 2 S OTT HALL KA«,
•OSTOM.eTMtlK ST.

^IVV'' CSTASUSMCD AHO MAINTAINCO BVTMI »3?

^^ NationalBoarDofStallnflmDrifrrs

roM ftcirvice • mot Fito#iT
207 CAAT OHIO STRCCT. CHICAGO

sERvicE^^woRK NOTICE OF DEFECTS inspection

Date -19 Ref. No Serial No.^

Manufacturer-

KlIDC Ol

Factory

Ux&lioo of

Alltnlitn oj:

(Name o' <lfficrr and Tillc)
C'tltemta:

Inepection at your factory on above date developed EuK-Bt«ndar<l (eatnres in produrt
euhmitted for labeling as noted below.

Copy of this letter has be^n forwarded to Chicago Office on inepectioD report o( above
serial number.

This confimiB oral advicea given to Mr.

UNDERWRITERS' LABORATORIES

Prom Branch Office <t> bv

{N»iDe of )iupc«tor)

Official notice of sub-standard features

Appendix XIII

Procedure in Factory Inspection Work

Definitions. Spedficalions. The term
"Specifications" as used in this Procedure re-
fers to the Specifications given in Section I (of
the Procedure for each manufacturer).

Standard Sample. The term "Standard
Sample" or "Descripticn" as used in this Pro-
cedure refers to a duplicate of the sample of the
manufacturer's product which was tested by
Underwriters' Laboratories, and which forms
the basis upon which the product oi the manu-
facturer is listed by the Laboratories as being
in compliance with the Specifications for the
product.

The standard Sample, when one is used, is in
duplicate; one sample being filed at the Chicago
Office of the Laboratories and the other filed
with the Branch Office assigned to conduct the
Factory Inspection Work on the product.

Scope of Factory Inspection Work. The
Factory Inspection Work consists of checking
essential features of construction and design
of representative samples, with a duplicate of
the original sample tested. It includes: —
examinations of materials used and of work-
manship; measurement of dimensions of ma-
terials; checking of form and arrangement of
parts; operating tests of finished product, etc.

Under usual conditions every detail of the
Description or Standard Sample shall be
checked by the inspector at each inspection.
It will not usually be practical, however, nor
should it be necessary for the inspector to
check each device in all of the particulars given
in the Description and Specifications or shown
by the Standard Sample. For example, one
device may be examined in certain details,
another in others, etc.

If any deficiencies are found, it will be neces-
sary for the inspector to either reject the whole
lot, or to subject each device to a complete
examination and reject those devices which are
deficient for labeling. The course to pursue in
such cases will usually be indicated by the cir-
cumstances. The inspector shall require that
each device be made standard if it is to retain
the label and he should watch carefully for a
recurrence of a like deficiency in devices made
subsequently until the product appears to be
again normal.

The following detailed procedure for con-
ducting the Factory Inspection W'ork together
with the following requirements for perform-
ance of the product under examinations and the
following details of construction shall apply.

Examination and Test Methods. The
following is to be regarded as instructions
covering the application of the specifications to
this Factory Inspection Work. The Specifi-
cations are supplemented in the following by
additional matter to be regarded as instructions
covering the application of the Specifications
to this Factory Inspection Work.

Second and Succeeding Pages. The
Laboratories inspector will not accept for label-
ing, fire-resisting storage receptacles of other
classifications than those given in the Specifi-
cations i.e., if only receptacles of the Insulated
Cabinet classification are described in the
Specifications, the inspector will not permit the
labeling of receptacles of the Light Weight Safe
classification.

The Laboratories inspector will not combine
on one form, a report covering inspections of
both Insulated Cabinets and Light Weight
Safes but will render two reports using a sep-
arate form for fire-resisting storage receptacles
of each classification.

Sizes. Storage receptacles of sizes exceed-
ing the limitations given in the Specifications
are not to be accepted for labeling. It should
be noted that the sizes are limited in four ways:
inside width, inside depth, inside height, area
of inside walls, and length of door joints on
inside of cabinet or safe (i.e. perimeters of
doors, including perimeters of both doors
when doors in pairs are used, the joint between
doors in pairs to be measured but once).

Meclianical Construction. The inspector
will not accept for labeling, storage receptacles
having any sections, outer shells, inner shells
or doors made of sheet steel of lesser nominal
thicknesses than those given in the Specifica-
tions. Metal nominally of the following U. S.
gauges should measure: — Nominal

U. S. Gauge No. Thickness — inches

24 0.025

22 0.03125

20 0.0.375

18 0.050

16 0.0625

14 0.078

To allow for mill variations, stock not leas

than the follow

'ing: —

Minimum

U- S. Gauge

No.

Thickness — inches

0.02.35

0.0295

0.0355

0.0475

0.0595

0.0740

may be used in the construction of storage
receptacles but the inspector should not be
expected to accept a lot of storage receptacles
made from stock all of which is of this minimum
thickness since the usual mill run of this ma-
terial should average up to gauge. The thick-
ness of a sheet of metal is to be taken as the
average of at least five measurements across
the width of the piece. Decreases in thickness
due to the drawing of the metal in presses or
brakes may be disregarded. Measurements for
thickness of sheet shall be made with round-
nosed micrometer calipers reading directly in
thousandth inches.

The inspector will not accept for labeling,
storage receptacles having any sections of the
body (including joints, sill and lintel sections)
or doors (including stile and rail sections)
formed of materials or of a design other than is
given in the Specifications.

The inspector will accept for labeling only
such storage receptacles as have all sections of
inner shells and doors reinforced to stiffen the
sections and to provide for attachment of
hardware as required in the Specifications. The
reinforcements must be secured in place as
specified.

The inspector will not accept for labeling
storage receptacles, having joints, sill and lintel
sections of body, and stile and rail sections of
doors reinforced for latch bars in a manner
other than is given in the Specifications.

The inspector will not accept for labeling,
storage receptacles having the several sections
of the outer shell, inner shell or doors secured
to each other in a manner other than is given
in the Specifications.

The inspector will not accept for labeling,
storage receptacles having inner shells of body
secured to outer shells in a manner other than
is given in the Specifications.

The inspector will not accept for labeling,
storage receptacles having bodies or doors with

283

A Symbol of Safety

any wall of a thickness other than is given in
the Specifications. The thickness of a wall is
the distance between the inner and outer faces.
This thickness shall be measured with a steel
scale graduated to read directly to 1-10 inch.

Caps or crowns and mouldings, if provided,
must be formed and attached to bodies as
required in the Specifications.

The inspector will not accept for labeling
storage receptacles having single doors mounted
on bodies having an inside width greater than
the specifications permit to be equipped with a
single door.

The inspector will accept for labeling only
such storage receptacles as have bodies pro-
vided with the special features required in the
Specifications.

Heat Insulation. The inspector will not
accept for labeling, storage receptacles having
walls of bodies or doors insulated with heat-
insulating materials other than those given in
the Specifications.

The inspector will not accept for labeling,
storage receptacles having walls of bodies or
doors insulated with other thicknesses of the
heat insulating materials than those given in
the Specifications. Thicknesses shall be meas-
ured wth a steel scale graduated to read di-
rectly to 1-64 inch.

The inspector will not accept for labeling,
storage receptacles having heat-insulating
materials disposed wthin any walls of the
bodies or doors in a manner other than is given
in the Specifications.

Storage receptacles emploj-ing block insula-
tion must not contain more than one (1) broken
block in every five (5). All broken blocks
used to be carefully cemented together under
pressure. Pressure to be maintained until
cement is dry. It is preferred that the joint
is held by ^^iring or staples in addition to the
cement. No two (2) broken cemented blocks
in any wall of the safe to be adjacent.

The inspector will not accept for labeling,
storage receptacles in which the heat-insulating
materials are held in place in a manner other
than that given in the Specifications.

At quarterly intervals, or oftener, when re-
quested by the Laboratories, the inspector will
forward samples of all types of insulating ma-
terial used in Standard safes for analysis and
check tests, to see that materials used is the
same as that originally submitted.

Hardware. Hinges. The inspector will
not accept for labeling, storage receptacles
equipped with hinges (including hinge pins)
made of materials or of a design other than is
given in the Specifications.

The inspector will not accept for labeling,
storage receptacles having doors mounted to
bodies with a lesser number of hinges than is
required in the Specifications, or with top and
bottom hinges located a greater distance from
the ends of the outside face of the door than is
specified.

The inspector will not accept for labeling,
storage receptacles equipped with hinges
which are secured to bodies or doors in a man-
ner other than that given in the Specifications.

Bolting Mechanism. The inspector will not
accept for labeling, storage receptacles having
doors equipped with bolt bars made of
materials or of a design other than that given
in the Specifications.

The inspector will not accept for labeling,
storage receptacles having doors equipped with
bolt bars operated by a mechanism made of
materials or of a design other than that given
in the Specifications. This will require that

the number of bolt bars and their disposition
with respect to the door edges will be as given
in the Specifications.

The inspector will not accept for labeling,
storage receptacles having doors equipped with
bolt bars secured to operating mechanisms or
with operating mechanisms secured to doors
in a manner other than that given in the Speci-
fications.

The inspector will not accept for labeling,
storage receptacles having doors equipped with
bolt bars which project less than |-inch when
the bolt bars are thrown as far as the operating
mechanism will permit.

Locks. Combination or key locks, if sup-
plied, must be in addition to the latching
mechanisms and should be of the design and be
attached to doors as given in the Specifications.

Casters. The inspector will not accept for
labeling, storage receptacles having bodies
equipped with casters made of materials or of a
design other than that given in the Specifica-
tions.

The inspector will not accept for labeling,
storage receptacles having bodies equipped with
a lesser number of casters than is required by
the Specifications.

Finish. The metal parts on the interior
and exterior of storage receptacles must be
painted or enameled.

Interior Fittings. Supports for shelving,
partitions, etc., if supplied, must be made and
secured to interiors of storage receptacles as
specified.

Workmanship Great care must be taken
to see that all joints at edges of slabs or layers
of heat insulating material are tight.

The fit between several sections of the inner
shell must be snug and the crack, if any, be-
tween the sections uniformly narrow.

All riveting and welding operations must be
effectively and properly done.

The latches must operate readily without
binding when the doors are in closed position.

It should not be possible to rattle the doors
when they are in dosed position and the doora
latched.

The gap between the outside front face of the
body and the outside front faces of the doora
and at meeting edges of doors in pairs should
be uniformly narrow. Width of gap between
doors will usually average about 1-16-inch but
should not be greater than 3-32-inch at top
and sides nor more than i-inch at bottom.

The metal of the tops of the tongues and
bottoms of the grooves of the doors should come
as nearly in contact with the bottom of the
grooves and the tops of the tongues respectively
of the body as is practical. The bottoms of the
grooves may be filled with asbestos strips glued
in place for the full lengths of the grooves when
necessary to accomplish this result. The
width of the gap between tongues and grooves
should be such that it will not be possible to
draw a strip of cotton duck 1-32-inch thick
through the door crack nor to readily draw a
strip of cotton duck 1-64-inch thick through
the crack when the doors are closed.

Markings. Each storage receptacle must
be marked with the name or trade-mark of the
manufacturer.

Labels. The inspector will see that the
labels of a given class (i.e. Insulated Cabinet or
Safes) are used only on material given that
classification in the Specifications.

Manufacturers are urged to use the labels in
the consecutive order of their serial numbers so
far as is possible, and the inspector shall call
attention to a failure to follow practice.

284

INDEX

Explanation of style followed: Titles or principal subjects of chapters,
appendices or sections are printed in bold-face. Figures in italics refer to illustra-
tions facing the pages the numbers of which are thus printed.

Acceptance requirementa for fire-hose,
Laboratories' Specifications for munici-
palities, 263

ACCIDENTS: reduction of, 188-202; aviation,
225; industrial, 197

— : see Ch. XV

Acetylene, 19

— generators and appliances, 121, 129, 131

AIRPLANES: 224-229; development, 224;
pilots, 223, 229-233

— : hazards of accessories, 226

Alarm appliances, fire, 47

— : testing, 46. 47, 48, 58

Alarm Systems, Burglar, Ch. XIV

Alcohol, 122, 148

AUing. C. R., Eng. Casualty Dept.. 18. 255, 256

Apparatus for testing safes, 268

ApF>eals by manufacturers from findings
of Laboratories, 275

"Arcing" requirement for all electrical ap-
pliances, 99, 101

Appliances, tested: statistics of, 235

Architecture, the Laboratories and, 243, 244

Armour Institute of Technology, 63, 245, 249

Arresters, flame, 148, 258

Articles from "Laboratories' Data," list of
selected, 260

Associated Factory Mutual Fire Insurance
Companies, 84, 250, 258

— Metal Lath Manufacturers, 240, 258
Automobiles, Ch. XVI
Aviation, Ch. XVH

— engineers at flying fields. Laboratories' res-
ident, 228

Bank Vault Burglar Alarm Systems, 175
Belt Shifters, 193
Boards of Arbitration, 276
Building blocks, concrete, 83

— columns: see Columns

— construction in U. S., effect of Laboratories'
work on, 243

— Materials, Ch. IX, App. Ill

— Number Three, 267

Bumpers, .\utomobile, 218

Bureau of Standards, U. S., 84, 239, 250, 258,
275

Burglar Alarm Systems, Ch. XIV

Burglar resistance of safes, 151

Burglary protection, Ch. XIV

Burlington Building, fire, 73

"Burning Brand" Test, 72

"Carding" Automobiles for fire safety,
208-213

Casualty Department, 28, 188-202

Central Station Burglar Alarm Systems,
180-182

Certificates, aeronautical:

— : airplanes: registration, 223, 225, 257; air-
worthiness, 223, 226, 227

— : pilots, 257

Chemical Extinguishers: 59

— : See also Fire Extinguishers.

Chemistry Department: 56, Ch. XII

— , definition of work of, 136

— : distinction between its work and that of
G. & O. Dep't, 121

Circular saw guard, 200

Civilization, 2, 246

Collision Hazard: automobiles, 212; aircraft,
225

Column Protection, results of fire tests
(Table) App. XI

Column Testing Furnace, descriptions, fron-
tispiece, 27, 28

Columns, 27-28. 83-87, App. Ill, App. XI

Combination label: benefits of, 249

"Comfort Test," 201

Concrete building blocks, 83

— fire-protection of columns, 262
Conduct of Fire Tests, 251
Conduit, 136

Conflagrations: 2, 24, 68, 69; artificial, 24, 66;

Chicago, 73, 83; Salem. 14
Constants, Table of, 148

285

A Symbol of Safety

Construction of fire hose, Laboratories'
requirements, 264

— of Safes, Standard requirements, 273

"Cooling Period" in fire tests, importance of,

158, 161
Corrosion:

— : chemistry, 135-150
— : sprinklers, 52

— tests of auto locks, 215

Council. Report to, 40, 165, 241, 255. 266
Councils: 41 ; functions and membership, App.

VIII
Critical Points, Demerit System, 252
Demerit System, App. IV
Die Label Service Agreement, 249
Dissection of safes, 164-165
D'Olive. C. R., Sup't., Label Service Dept., 18,

40. 255
Doors: fire, 77-82; panic. 199; tin clad, 82
Drier, electric, hot air blast, 103
"Drop" Test, 161-165
Dry cleaning establishments, demonstration of

fire protection appliances. 125
Dugan. A. G.. Chmn. Bd. of Dir., 11, 255
du Pont de Nemours Co., 148, 258
Ekiucation, the Laboratories and, 244

— in fire protection engineering, 44, 249
ELECTRIC hot air blast drier, 103

— lighting plant. 111

• — switches, testing, 114, 115

— toaster, a "ten-cent," 110
• — water heater, testing, 98

^- wire, rubber-covered, 105-106, 137-138
ELECTRICAL Department: 22, 28, 49; growth
of. 111-118

— fires and chemical extinguishers, 63. 149

— Industry, relation of Laboratories to,
94-97, 118

• — Manufacturers' Council. 240

— Products, Ch. X

— safety viewpoint, 104

— standards: see STANDARDS

— tests: see TESTS
Elevator safety appliances, 201

— shafts, 79
Ethers. 122, 148

Exit appliances: see Safety Appliances
"Expert Premeditated Attack" Test, 178, 179,

181, 182, 183, 215
Explosion flashes photographed at Laboratories,

143
"Explosion Test," 122, 166
Explosive ranges, investigation of, 142-143

— vapo-air mixtures. 143, 148
Extinguishers, fire: 60-64; strength of shells,

62; performance tests, 2, 35, 63; freezing

tests, 127
Factories: see Manufacturers, Insp)ections at

Factories, Label Service.
"False Alarm" Tests: automatic fire alarms,

48; burglary protection systems, 182, 186;

sprinkler sujservisory systems, 58
Finnegan. Prof. J. B., 249, 255, 258
FIRE: a definition. 12-13; "a living thing." 12;

"a part of all human history," 12; "a swift

transformer of conditions," 152

— always subject to natural laws, 15

— latency of, 13-15

Fire Alarm Appliances, 47-48

Fire Doors, 77-83

Fire Escapes. 197-198

Fire extinguisher fluids, 61, 258

Fire Extinguishers, 59-65

Fire Fighting, Ch. VIII

"Fire Hazard" test of house furnace, 132-134

Fire-Hose: 53-57, 67, 137, 264

— , Municipal, Laboratories' Require-
ments, 55, App. Xli

Fire Losses: increase compared with population
increase, 6; due to spontaneous ignition,
145

Fire Prevention: as a conflict of two contend-
ing forces, 11; campaign, 9-11; history, 8;
Physical Side of, 12-16

Fire Prevention Day, 9

Fire Protection Engineering, 244-245, 249

Fire-Resistance Period of various types of
columns (Table), App. XI

Fire-Resistive Construction, Ch. IX, 243,
244, App. Ill

Fire Stream Tests: Safes, 272; windows, 74

Fire Tests: Control of, 250, 251; columns,
building. 83. 258, App. XI; columns, timber,
84-87; floors, 89-91, 251; roof coverings, 66,
70-72; safes and insulated cabinets, Ch. XIII,
App. XIII

— : see also TESTS

Fire Windows, 74-76

Fires: "the first five minutes," 15, 61

"Five Requirements" for all electrical appli-
ances, 99

Flame Arrestors. 148, 258

Floor and Roof Tests, standard, 251

Floors and Walls, Fire Resistive, 89-91

Follow-up work: see Label Service, Reexam-
ination Service and Inspection Service

— forms of, 43
"Freezing" Test, 62, 127
Furnaces, Pipeless, 132-134

Furnaces, Test, descriptions: see Safes and

Columns
Fuse base investigation, 100, 101
Fuses, testing house for, at New York. 28, 110
Fusible links: see Fire Doors and Shutters

and Sprinklers
Cases: analyzing, 143; chem., 141-142;

Hazardous, 128-131
Gases and Oils Department, 61, Ch. XI

— and Chemistry Department, distinction be-
tween, 121

286

Index

Gasolene: 6, 121-125; heat expansion of, 146

— curb pumps, 123-124

Gauges, pressure: accuracy tests, 67; calibra-
tion service for clients, 253; vibration and
pressure impulse tests, 47

Glover, B. H., Assoc. Eng., Elec. Dept., 18,
111, 255, 256

Goggles, 9i, 201, 201

Guarding appliances: see Safety Appliances

Guards for Machines, 195, 200-201

Haiey Process of Fireproofing Gin-Baled
Cotton, 259

HAZARD: automobile fire, classified, 209-210;
aviation: see Ch. XVII; "canned heat," 146-
147; "civilization and," 2; electricity and,
5, Ch. X; explosion, 122, 166; gases, 141;
gasolene, 6; matches, 139; oil burner, statis-
tics, 127; peanut skins, 145; Underwriters'
Laboratories "the one institution," 134

— , collision, see Automobiles, Aircraft

— , fire: see under Fire, Fire Prevention,
Hazardous Substances

— , moral: see Automobiles, Burglary Pro-
tection

— , reduction of, purpose of Laboratories, 38,
245

— , relation of label to, 34

— , theft: see Automobile

Hazardous Substances; 148

— , appliances related to, Ch. XI

— , definition of, 120

Heating Requirement for all electrical appli-
ances, 99, 100

Hendricks, R. W., Hydraulic Engineer, 18,
255

Herring-Hall-Marvin Fire-Resistive Sates,
259

Hose, fire: see Fire Hose

— racks. 50

Human Hazard, the reduction of, 246
Humanity and Hazard, 1-7
Hydraulic E^iuipment, 57-59

— Laboratory, 25

— tests, 57, 264
"Impact" Test, 163, 190
Impartiality. 37, 236. 239, 242
Incubators, 14, 131
Industry Conferences, 276
Inspections at factories, 22, 28, 40, 42, 55,

56, 82, 95, 102, 103, 106, 139, 141, 142, 154,
166, 176, 194, 252
— , description, App. XIII

— included in Specifications, App. XII
— , scope of, 283

INSPECTION SERVICE: aircraft, 223; bur-
glary protection installations, 182; gas pro-
ducing plants, 142; general, 41; lightning
rods, 109, 253; sprinkler installations, 52

Installation S>amples, testing of: electric wire,
106; sprinkler heads, 52

Insulation, electric wire: 67, 102, 103, 104-107,
137-139

— , Fires no longer blindly attributed to, 100

— : see also TESTS

Insulation Requirement for all electrical ap-
pliances, 99, 100

INSURANCE: aircraft, 222, 234; automobile
204-213; burglary, 169-171. 173, 187; busi
ness premises (safes), 153; electrical in-
stallations, 97; sprinklered buildings, 51
scientific automobiles underwriting, 208

— organizations request: special investigations,
149-150; standards on burglary protection,
168; on aircraft, 222; on automobiles, 204

— , relation of work of Laboratories to, 33-35,

236-239
Inventors: 44, 49; fire extinguishers, 64; glass,

192; hazards of inventions, 14, 6:, 119
Kerosene: 122

— oil burners. 125-128
"Kinking" Test, 56, 264

LABEL: "a servant of genuine thrift," 111;
certifies safety of electrical goods, 110; def-
inition, 30; doors, 78-83; episodes, 31-33;
fire extinguisher, 60, 61; "first thing looked
for by prospective purchasers," 31; "inherent
right" of product to, 242; on gas regulator
would have prevented a fire, 131; on safes,
importance, 167; roofing, 73; statistics, 30;
windows, 75; Winning the, Ch. VII

— , relation of, to rates of premium, 35; to
electrical jobber, 95; to contractor, 96; to
inspector, 96; to underwriting, 35, 102; to
user of electrical goods, 97

— service, inauguration of, 22
— , Significance of the, Ch. VI
LABELS: Details About, App. I; machine

for making, 34, Typical, App. VI

LABEL SERVICE: 42, 274-284; growth, 236;
inauguration. 22

— : Demerit System, 252

— : see also INSPECTIONS

"Laboratories' Data" (publication), 260

Ladder Feet, 190

Law suits arising from accidents, 200

Lenses, goggles, 201

Lighting plants, 131

Lightning rods: Laboratories' Standard, 108;
manufacturers, 109; requirements for stan-
dard installations, 109; statistics, 107

LIST of Appliances Inspected for Accident
Hazard, 260

— of Inspected Automobile Appliances, 219„
260

— of inspected electrical appliances. Labor-
atories'—117. 260

— of Inspected Mechanical Appliances, 260
Listing: see Label Service

— of Safes and Insulated Cabinets, 267
Lives saved by Laboratories, 35

287

A Symbol of Safety

Living Conditions, satisfactory, fire safety, 92

Locks, Automobile, 205-214-217

Lumber Manufacturers, Special investigation
for. 85-88

Mallalieu, W. E.. 11. 255, 256

Manual Test Release, 81

MANUFACTURERS: airplanes, 228; appre-
ciation by, 212; building materials, 68; cases
of opjxwition from, 241; contracts with, 21;
cooperation of Laboratories with electrical,
115; electric wire, 105; fire hose, 53-57; fire
prevention and, 10; "fire-proof" roofings, 70^
fire windows, 74-75; in many industries
affected by work of Chemistry Deriartment,
150; label service for, 22; laminated glass,
192; lightning rods, 109; matches. 140-141;
peanut products, 145; rubber products, 137;
safety deposit boxes, 183; tin-clad doors, 82.

— , electrical, who sacrifice quality to price, 109

— employing explosive vapors, aided by in-
vestigation on propagation of flames, 147-
148

— : Labels: see App. I, App. VT
— : Label service as applied to all industries
utilizing it. 274-277

— of acetylene generators express appreciation
of Laboratories' work, 129

— of automobile accessories aided by Labora-
tories, 214

— of automobile bumpers aided by Labora-
tories, 219

— of automobile locks apply for rating of de-
vices, 205

— of automobiles cooperate with Laboratories
through N. A. C. C, 204

— of automobiles must sign reexamination
contracts to have their cars listed. 211

— of building materials, investigations for, 89

— of burglary protection appliances, request
Laboratories' cooperation, 168

— of burglary protection appliances, inspec-
tions at factories of, 176

— of commercial gases request Laboratories'
inspection service, 142

— of labeled devices, ever-growing number of,
shown by statistics, 235-236

— of oil burners, aided by Laboratories' work,
125-128

— : processes which must Ibe gone through

in submitting products, 36-43, 154, 236
— , products reviewed by councils, 41, 255
— , relation of Laboratories to electrical,
94-95

— request Laboratories' work on dry pipe
valves, 58

— , sympathetic attitude of Laboratories to, 114
— , value of label service to, 32, 242-243
Matches: 139-140, 142

Mechanical strength, a requirement for all
electrical appliances, 99

Merrill, William H., President No. 2, 17, 18,
18, 40, 121, 255, 256

Metal Lath, 91, 258, 263

Michael, H. B., Assoc. Eng., Cas. Dep't., 179,
255, 256

Micro-Photographs, 50, 147

"Moral Hazard": automobiles: 208, 213

Motor Trucks, Ch. XV

NATIONAL Aircraft Underwriters' Associa-
tion, 222

— Automobile Chamber of Commerce, 204, 206

— Automobile Underwriters' Conference, 204,
205, 207, 239

— Board of Fire Underwriters — 19, 20, 21, 65,
130, 149, 239, 240

— Electrical Code, 96, 112-115

— Electrical Safety Code, 115

— Fire Protection Ass'n., 20, 50, 149, 150, 239,
240

— Safety Council, 228, 240
New York office: 22, 28, 255

— . UllustTations), 28. 40, 82, 98, 102, 103, 179
"Non-breakable" Glass, 192
Nuckolls, A. H., Chemical Engineer, 18. 255
Oil Burners, Kerosene for household furnaces,

125-127
Oils, hazardous, 122, 148
Openings: in fire walls, partitions, vertical

shafts, etc., 78-80

— satisfactory protection of, 83
Oxy-acetylene torches, 128

Oxygen and hydrogen: work on commercial
production, 141-142; analyzing, 143

Partitions, 91, 251

Peanut Skins, 145

Periodic summaries of manufacturers' stand-
ing under the Demerit System, 252

Pierce, Dana, Vice President, 18, 19, 22, 118,
255, 256

Pilots, Airplane, 230-232

"Pink Slip" ^Official notice of defects), 282

Plan of Investigation, the Laboratories': Origin
of, 129; for safes, 165, 269

Plant Department, 29, 34, 91, 255

Police Relations with burglar alarm com-
panies, 180-181

Porter, R. K., Division Engineer, 158, 255, 258

Presses: baling, 131; punch, 195; stamping, 200

"Procedure" handbooks:

— described, 42. 166, 274-284
— : See also INSPECTIONS
"Propagation of flames in pipes and the

effectiveness of arresters," Special inves-
tigation, 147, 258

Protection of building columns against fire
(Table), App. XI

Pumps, fire, 59

"Radiant Heat" Test, 72

RATING, Laboratories': accident, 189; classi-
fication, 40; grouping of electrical appliances

Index

submitted for, 102; label as a manifest, 31;
meaning of, 242; Sales value of, 38

— of Airplane Pilots, 230
— : see also LABEL

Recommendations on products at conclu-
sion of investigation, 255

Reexaminauon Service, 41, 211
Refrigerating Plants, emergency ammonia dis-
charging systems, 199
Register: Aircraft, 223, 225

— Pilots', 223, 230
Relocking Devices, 183-184
Report to Council, 40, 165, 255, 266
Robinson. O. L., Ass't. Hydr. Eng.. 249, 255

— William C. (1868-1921), 19, 121

Rubber insulation: 67, 102, 103, 104-107,
137-139

— prepared for tests, 139

RLT^ES: for submitting products, Ch. VII,

264-265
— , electrical: Ch. X, first set printed, 112
— , installation: see Lightning Rods, Burglary

Protection Systems, App. 5
Safes and Insulated Cabinets, Ch. XIII,

App. XIII, 144-145
SAFETY Appliances, 197-202

— "A Symbol of", 247

— Code, Electrical, 115

— defxisit boxes, 183

— of Aircraft, 224-229

— of Automobiles, 208-220

— treads for stairs, 199
Samples of products submitted, 41
SCHEDULES, LABOR.\TORIES' R.\TING:
— , airplanes, 226

— , Automobile: collision, 207, 212; fire, 207.

208-211; theft, 207, 212-214
— , burglar alarm systems: see Burglary Pro-
tection
— , Demerit, App. IV
Schroeder, Major R. W., Aviation Engineer,

222, 224, 255
Secret purchases of labeled goods for re-tests,

Ch. VI, 52, 106, 167, 252
Service records of products, investigation of,

Ch. VII, 192, 272
Set screws, safety, 194
Sheetrock, 258
Shepard, R. B., Assoc. Eng., Elec. Dept., 19.

46, 255
Shutters, fire, 75, 77-83
Signaling devices: see Burglar Alarms, Fire

Alarms, Sprinklers
Slack, E. P.. Ass't. Eng.. Elec. Dept., 19. 46, 255
Small, A. R., Vice-Pres., 18. 210, 255, 256. 258
Smith. E. J., Engineer, Gases and Oils Dep't..

75.255
Society of Automotive Engineers, 210, 239
"Solidified Alcohol," 146
Specifications: Typical, App. XII

— for Fire Tests of Building Materials
and Construction, App. Ill

Spwntaneous combustion investigations. 145

Sprinklers, Automatic: 50-53

— : Some "Horrible Examples." 50

—. tests. 3, 41. 47. 50-53, 51. 54. 90

"Standard samples": see Test Samples

Standards: burglary protection appliances, 168,
169, 184; electric wire, 107; fire extinguishers,
60; fire hose, 55, App. XII; lightning rods,
lOS; safes and insulated cabinets, Ch.
XIII and App. XIII; sprinklers, 51

— , Electrical, the Laboratories' Code of, 95,
116-117

— , List of Printed, 259

— : see also under various products

Standard Time-Temperature Control Curve,
160, 250

Standpipes and hose stations, 49-50

Structural Materials, Ch. IX, App. Ill

Table of Constants, 148

— of Standard Furnace Temperatures. 271
Taylor, Prof. Fitzhugh, Engineer, Protection

Dept., 18. 255
Temperature Control Curve, Standard Time,

160, 250
Test samples: procedure and requirements,

154, 251
Testing machines: Riehle, 83, 268; Olsen, 41.

268
TESTS: "Accxiracy of Release," 51; "After-
Glow," 140; "Bumping," 218; "Burning
Brand," 72; "Climbing," 227; "Comfort,"
201; "Driving," 216; "Drop," 161-165;
"Expert Premeditated Attack," 178, 181,
182, 183, 215; "Explosion," 166; "False
Alarm": automatic fire alarms, 48; burglary
protection systems, 182, 186; supervisory
systems, 58; fire hazard, of furnace, 132-134;
"Flight." 227; "Fly Hazard." 140; "Freez-
ing." 62; "Hydraulic," 57, 264; "Imp>act,"
163. 190; "Irate Motorist." 124; "Kinking."
56, 264; "Lazy Maid," 133; "Least Amount
of Zinc." 139; "Life," 265; "Marble." 103;
"Practicability," 132; "Radiant Heat," 72;
"Re-Breather Tank." 232; "Rough Usage."
52; "Rug," 133; "Shimmy Table," 215;
"Slippage," 190; "Swiftness of Reaction,''
232: "Twist," 264; "Water Hammer," 51;
"Wind-driven flame," 72; "Worst Treat-
ment," 102-103.

(Note — Above are unique or special. Such
tests as for strength of parts and assembled devices,
fire-resistance, uniformity, durability, resistance
to moisture, electrical, physical arid chemical pro-
perties, etc.. form part of the plan of inresligation
of a large number of materials, devices and systems
submitted to the laboratories).
— , typical, detailed descriptions, 270

289

A Symbol of Safety

TESTS OF PRODUCTS: Acetylene genera-
tors and appliances, 121, 129-130, 138;
Airplanes and Accessories, 224-228;
Airplane Pilots, 230-232; appliances re-
lated to the production, transportation,
storage and use of hazardous substances,
Ch. XI; arrestors, flame, 148; Autonnobiles,
Ch. XV; automobile locks, 205. 214-217;
automobile bumpers, 218; automobile wind-
shield visors, 219; belt shifters, safety, 193;
pipeless furnaces, 132-134; Building Col-
umns, 84-87, App. XI; Building Mater-
ials, Ch. IX; Burglar Alarm Systems,
Ch. XIV; "canned heat," 146; conductors
steel-clad copper, 136; conduit, 136; doors,
panic, 199; electric hot air blast drier, 103;
Electrical Goods, Ch. X; elevator safety
appliances, 201 ; explosive vapo-air mixtures,
143, 148; extinguisher liquids, 149; Fire
Alarm Appliances, 47-48; fire escapes,
197-198; Fire Extinguishers, 60-64; Fire
Hose, 54-56, 137, 264; Fire Resistive Walls
and Floors, 89-91; Fire Windows, 74-76;
flame arrestors, 148; foam fire extinguishing
compounds, 146; Gases, 141-142; gasolene
curb pumps, 123-124; glass, wired, {see
Windows), laminated, 192; goggles, 201;
guards for punch presses and other machines,
195, 200-201; hot air blast drier, electric,
103; Hydraulic Equipment, 57-58; kero-
sene oil burners for household furnaces, 125-
127; ladder feet, 190; Lightning Rod Ma-
terials, 108; matches, 139-140; motor trucks,
Ch. XV; panic appliances, 199; partitions,
251; peanut skins, 145: portable fuel, 146;
products submitted for labeling, general
rules, 39-43; relocking devices, 183-184;
Roof Coverings, 70-72, 141; Safes, Ch.
XIII, App. XIII, 144-145; Safety Appli-
ances, 188, 197-202; safety deposit boxes,
183; safety treads for stairways, 199; set
screws, safety, 194; "solidified alcohol," 146;
Sprinkler Equipment, 51-52; stair treads,
safety, 199; Stand Pip>cs and Hose Sta-
tions, 49-50; steel-clad copper conductors,
136; A Ten-Cent Electric Toaster, 110;
tin-clad fire doors, 82; vapK>-air mixtures,
explosive, 143-148; Wire, Electric, Rubber-
Covered, 105-106, 137-138
— at factories, see Inspections at Factories
Thermo-couples: calibrating, 158; using, 159
Time-resistance of building materials under
standardized fire tests, 250, 258

UNDERWRITERS' LABORATORIES: "af-
fects the welfare of every community," 33;
Board of Directors, 11. 255; cooperates with
gas manufacturers, 142; Councils, 255;
"courtof last resort," 21; departments, 255;
development, 17-23; follows up an entire
industry, 166-167; incorporation, 21; indus-
trial contacts, figures, 235; importance of
casualty work, 188; New York office, 22, 28,
28, 40, 82, 98. 102, 103. 179, 255; "the one
institution," 134; organization, 255; origin
16. Ill, 114, 137, Ch. IV; principal office
and testing station, Ch. V; results of bur-
glary protection work, 187; special forms of
service, 253; staff, 18, 255; statistics, 18

— and instruction in fire-prevention engineer-
ing, 249

— > findings revolutionary: wooden columns,
87; stair treads, 200

— : influence on industries: oil burners, 126;
rubber-covered wire, 106

— • moving picture films, 260

— 1 procedure with reference to products
submitted: Ch. VII; first essential thor-
oughness, 36; second essential impartiality, 37

— : use of name of, rules, 277

— : see also Label, Label Service, Inspections,
at Factories, Standards, Tests, etc.

U. S. Bureau of Standards, 84, 239, 250, 258,
275

Valves: dry pipe and alarm, 58, 58; generator
relief, 131; shut-off, 127, 130, 209

Vapors, hazardous, 143, 147, 148, 195

Vibration tests of sprinklers and pressure
gauges, 47

— table, 210. See also Automobile Appli-
ances, Burglary Protection Systems

Walls and Floors, Fire-Resistive, 89-91
Watchmen: unreliability of, 47-49
Windows, fire, 73-77
Wire, Electric, rubber-covered, 67, 102, 103,

105-106, 137-138
Wired Glass, 73, 80, 192. 201
Woodcock, R. A., Chief Insp., 19, 40, 255
Wooden columns, special investigation, 85-88
Workmanship; detailed requirements, 284
World War: 10; fire prevention engineers in, 11
Yarns, fire hose, 137, 150
•'Yellow Boy" (factory inspector's report),

279-281
Zinc coating on conduits, 138-139

290

3325

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Full text of "A symbol of safety : an interpretative study of a notable institution organized for service, not profit"

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